Money for nothing? Universal child care and maternal employment

Arbeitspapier

The strong correlation between child care and maternal employment rates has led previous research to conclude that affordable and readily available child care is a driving force both of cross-country differences in maternal employment and of its rapid growth over the last decades. We analyze the introduction of subsidized, universally accessible child care in Norway. Our precise and robust difference-in-differences estimates reveal that there is little, if any, causal effect of child care on maternal employment, despite a strong correlation. Instead of increasing mothers' labor supply, the new subsidized child care mostly crowds out informal child care arrangements, suggesting a significant net cost of the child care subsidies.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 4504

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Publicly Provided Goods: General ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
• Subject: Universal child care ; female labor force participation ; Kinderbetreuung ; Frauenerwerbstätigkeit ; Arbeitsangebot ; Mütter ; Norwegen

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Havnes, Tarjei ; Mogstad, Magne
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/36097
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET