{"title":"Where can childcare expansion increase maternal labor supply? A comparison of quasi-experimental estimates from seven countries","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s00181-023-02531-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>The estimated effect of childcare availability on maternal labor supply varies highly in previous single-country estimates. We provide comparable quasi-experimental estimates of the childcare effect for seven countries, using harmonized data and a uniform method based on country-specific childcare eligibility cutoffs. We evaluate the estimates in light of key institutional factors to determine under what conditions childcare expansion is likely to be effective. We propose a measure that captures childcare scarcity and predicts the effectiveness of childcare expansion: the gap between the participation rate of mothers with older children (aged 6–14) and childcare coverage under the age of 3. In countries with a high gap, we find that childcare availability has a significant positive impact on maternal labor supply (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic). No significant impact is found in countries where the gap is low due to either already high childcare coverage (France) or the low participation of mothers with older children (Greece, Italy). We discuss other policies that need to be addressed concurrently for childcare expansion to achieve its goal of increasing mothers’ participation in the labor market.</p>","PeriodicalId":11642,"journal":{"name":"Empirical Economics","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Empirical Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-023-02531-6","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The estimated effect of childcare availability on maternal labor supply varies highly in previous single-country estimates. We provide comparable quasi-experimental estimates of the childcare effect for seven countries, using harmonized data and a uniform method based on country-specific childcare eligibility cutoffs. We evaluate the estimates in light of key institutional factors to determine under what conditions childcare expansion is likely to be effective. We propose a measure that captures childcare scarcity and predicts the effectiveness of childcare expansion: the gap between the participation rate of mothers with older children (aged 6–14) and childcare coverage under the age of 3. In countries with a high gap, we find that childcare availability has a significant positive impact on maternal labor supply (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic). No significant impact is found in countries where the gap is low due to either already high childcare coverage (France) or the low participation of mothers with older children (Greece, Italy). We discuss other policies that need to be addressed concurrently for childcare expansion to achieve its goal of increasing mothers’ participation in the labor market.
期刊介绍：
Empirical Economics publishes high quality papers using econometric or statistical methods to fill the gap between economic theory and observed data. Papers explore such topics as estimation of established relationships between economic variables, testing of hypotheses derived from economic theory, treatment effect estimation, policy evaluation, simulation, forecasting, as well as econometric methods and measurement. Empirical Economics emphasizes the replicability of empirical results. Replication studies of important results in the literature - both positive and negative results - may be published as short papers in Empirical Economics. Authors of all accepted papers and replications are required to submit all data and codes prior to publication (for more details, see: Instructions for Authors).The journal follows a single blind review procedure. In order to ensure the high quality of the journal and an efficient editorial process, a substantial number of submissions that have very poor chances of receiving positive reviews are routinely rejected without sending the papers for review.Officially cited as: Empir Econ
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
