Arbeitspapier

Child care subsidies, maternal well-being, and child-parent interactions: Evidence from three nationally representative datasets

A complete account of the U.S. child care subsidy system requires an understanding of its implications for both parental and child well-being. Although the effects of child care subsidies on maternal employment and child development have been recently studied, many other dimensions of family well-being have received little attention. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the impact of child care subsidy receipt on maternal health and the quality of child-parent interactions. The empirical analyses use data from three nationally representative surveys, providing access to numerous measures of family well-being. In addition, we attempt to handle the possibility of non-random selection into subsidy receipt by using several identification strategies both within and across the surveys. Our results consistently indicate that child care subsidies are associated with worse maternal health and poorer interactions between parents and their children. In particular, subsidized mothers report lower levels of overall health and are more likely to show symptoms consistent with anxiety, depression, and parenting stress. Such mothers also reveal more psychological and physical aggression toward their children and are more likely to utilize spanking as a disciplinary tool. Together, these findings suggest that work-based public policies aimed at economically disadvantaged mothers may ultimately undermine family well-being.

Language: Englisch

Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 6306

Classification: Wirtschaft
Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

Subject: child care
subsidy
health
Kinderbetreuung
Sozialpolitik
Subvention
Mütter
Eltern
Gesundheit
Zufriedenheit
USA

Event: Geistige Schöpfung

(who): Herbst, Chris M.
Tekin, Erdal

Event: Veröffentlichung

(who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

(where): Bonn

(when): 2012

Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/58499

URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-201204239672

Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

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Object type

Arbeitspapier

Associated

Herbst, Chris M.
Tekin, Erdal
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Time of origin

2012

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