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Labor Supply and Child Care Costs: The Effect of Rationing

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  • Del Boca, Daniela

    (University of Turin)

  • Vuri, Daniela

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

Abstract

In Italy the participation of women has not increased very much in the last few decades relative to other developed countries and it is still among the lowest in Europe. The female employment rate stands almost 13 percentage points below the EU average and 22 below the Lisbon target. One of the most important reasons is related to the characteristics of child care system. In this paper we analyze the characteristics of the child care system in Italy and its relationship to the labor market participation decision of mothers. We present a simple discrete choice framework in which the two decisions can be jointly considered, which also allows for simple forms of rationing and estimate a bivariate probit model of the child care and employment decisions and interpret the results within the framework of our model. We find evidence that rationing is an important factor in interpreting price effects on utilization rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Del Boca, Daniela & Vuri, Daniela, 2005. "Labor Supply and Child Care Costs: The Effect of Rationing," IZA Discussion Papers 1779, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1779
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Levin, Mark (Левин, Марк) & Oshchepkov, Aleksey (Ощепков, Алексей) & Shilova, Nadezhda (Шилова, Надежда), 2017. "Estimating Demand for preschools in Russia [Спрос На Услуги Дошкольных Образовательных Организаций: Эмпирический Анализ]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 2, pages 100-131, April.
    2. Gema Zamarro, 2020. "Family labor participation and child care decisions: the role of grannies," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 287-312, September.
    3. Pacifico, Daniele, 2009. "A behavioral microsimulation model with discrete labour supply for Italian couples," MPRA Paper 14198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Massimo Baldini & Daniele Pacifico, 2009. "The Recent reforms of the Italian Personal Income Tax: Distributive and Efficiency Effects," Rivista italiana degli economisti, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 191-218.
    5. Wrohlich, Katharina, 2006. "Labor Supply and Child Care Choices in a Rationed Child Care Market," IZA Discussion Papers 2053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Massimiliano Bratti & Emilia Del Bono & Daniela Vuri, 2005. "New Mothers’ Labour Force Participation in Italy: The Role of Job Characteristics," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(s1), pages 79-121, December.
    7. Van Klaveren, C & Maassen van den Brink, H. & Van Praag, B., 2009. "Intra-Household Work Timing: The Effect on Joint Activities and the Demand for Child Care," Working Papers 27, Top Institute for Evidence Based Education Research.
    8. Vanleenhove, Pieter, 2013. "Full childcare coverage: higher maternal labour supply and childcare usage?," EUROMOD Working Papers EM19/13, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Li, Yunrong, 2017. "The effects of formal and informal child care on the Mother's labor supply—Evidence from urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 227-240.
    10. Francisca Dussaillant, 2016. "Usage of Child Care and Education Centers," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(2), pages 21582440166, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor market decisions; child care; fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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