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Childcare and Maternal Employment : Evidence from Vietnam

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  • Dang,Hai-Anh H.
  • Hiraga,Masako
  • Nguyen,Cuong Viet

Abstract

Little literature currently exists on the effects of childcare use on maternal labor market outcomes in a developing country context, and recent studies offer mixed results. This paper attempts to fill these gaps by analyzing several of the latest rounds of the Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey spanning the early to mid-2010s. Addressing endogeneity issues with a regression discontinuity estimator based on children's birth months, the paper finds a sizable effect of childcare attendance on women's labor market outcomes, including their total annual wages, household income, and poverty status. The effects of childcare attendance differ by women's characteristics and are particularly strong for younger, more educated women. Furthermore, childcare has a medium-term effect and positively impacts men's labor market outcomes as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Dang,Hai-Anh H. & Hiraga,Masako & Nguyen,Cuong Viet, 2019. "Childcare and Maternal Employment : Evidence from Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8856, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8856
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    Cited by:

    1. Cuong Nguyen & Anh Tran, 2020. "Are children an incentive or a disincentive for migration? Evidence from Vietnam," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 467-485, July.
    2. Nguyen, Cuong, 2019. "Simulation of the Costs and Benefits of Delayed Retirement: Evidence from Vietnam," MPRA Paper 106180, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Cuong Viet Nguyen & Finn Tarp, 2023. "Cash Transfers and Labor Supply: New Evidence on Impacts and Mechanisms," DERG working paper series 23-18, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Development Economics Research Group (DERG).
    4. Anh Thu Quang Pham & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya & Ha Vu, 2021. "Estimating poverty and vulnerability to monetary and non-monetary poverty: the case of Vietnam," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(6), pages 3125-3177, December.
    5. Kozhaya, Mireille, 2022. "The double burden: The impact of school closures on labor force participation of mothers," Ruhr Economic Papers 956, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    6. Semih Tumen & Belgi Turan, 2023. "The effect of fertility on female labor supply in a labor market with extensive informality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 1855-1894, October.
    7. Mieke Meurs & Maigul Nugmanova & Aizhan Salimzhanova & Stevie Marvin, 2021. "Gender Regime and Women’s Employment in Kazakhstan," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(4), pages 603-622, December.
    8. Cuong Viet Nguyen, 2022. "The effect of preschool attendance on Children's health: Evidence from a lower middle‐income country," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 1558-1589, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Rural Labor Markets; Labor Markets; Inequality; Social Development&Poverty; Labor Standards;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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