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Promoting integration of immigrants. Effects of free child care on child enrollment and parental employment

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Abstract

Proficiency in the language spoken by the majority population may be crucial for the cognitive development of children from immigrant families. High-quality child care is believed to promote such language skills, and it is thus of concern that children from immigrant families are underrepresented in formal child care across OECD countries. How can we increase their participation, and can such participation improve family integration? We study an intervention in some districts of Oslo where children aged four and five were eligible for twenty hours of free childcare weekly. Taking advantage of the intervention being available in some city districts and not in others, we estimate the effect of the intervention on the enrollment of children and on their parents' employment and education, using outcomes measured for the same family before and after the child's age of eligibility. We find that the intervention increased the participation for children from immigrant families by 15 percent. However, we do not find support for effects on parental employment or education. The performance in tests at school entry (age six) for children from immigrant families in city districts with free child care is better than that of similar children in comparison districts. Overall, our results suggest that subsidizing center based child care can improve the cognitive development of children from immigrant families.

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  • Nina Drange & Kjetil Telle, 2015. "Promoting integration of immigrants. Effects of free child care on child enrollment and parental employment," Discussion Papers 799, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssb:dispap:799
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    1. Ludovica Gambaro & Guido Neidhöfer & C. Katharina Spieß, 2019. "The Effect of Early Childhood Education and Care Services on the Social Integration of Refugee Families," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1828, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Nina Drange & Kjetil Telle, 2017. "Preschool and school performance of children from immigrant families," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 825-867, March.
    3. Nina Drange & Tarjei Havnes, 2015. "Child care before age two and the development of language and numeracy. Evidence from a lottery," Discussion Papers 808, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    4. Nina Drange & Kjetil Telle, 2018. "Universal child care and inequality of opportunity. Descriptive findings from Norway," Discussion Papers 880, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    5. Corazzini, Luca & Meschi, Elena & Pavese, Caterina, 2021. "Impact of early childcare on immigrant children’s educational performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. De Paola, Maria & Brunello, Giorgio, 2016. "Education as a Tool for the Economic Integration of Migrants," IZA Discussion Papers 9836, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Xiang Kang & Mingxi Du & Siqin Wang & Haifeng Du, 2022. "Exploring the Effect of Health on Migrants’ Social Integration in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-20, April.
    8. Seibel, Verena & Hedegaard, Troels Fage, 2017. "Migrants' and natives' attitudes to formal childcare in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 112-121.
    9. Verena Seibel, 2021. "What Do Migrants Know About Their Childcare Rights? A First Exploration in West Germany," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1181-1202, September.
    10. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1198, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Ann-Marie Sommerfeld, 2023. "The Effect of Schooling on Parental Integration," Jena Economics Research Papers 2023-018, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    12. Hao Li, 2020. "The effect of universal pre‐kindergarten policy on female labor force participation—A synthetic control approach," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(2), pages 440-482, October.
    13. Gambaro, Ludovica & Neidhöfer, Guido & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2021. "The effect of early childhood education and care services on the integration of refugee families," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child care; education; immigrant children; integration; assimilation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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