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Public child care and mothers' labor supply—Evidence from two quasi-experiments

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  • Bauernschuster, Stefan
  • Schlotter, Martin

Abstract

Public child care is expected to assist families in reconciling work with family life. Yet, empirical evidence for the relevance of public child care to maternal employment is inconclusive. We exploit the introduction of a legal claim to a place in kindergarten in Germany, which was contingent on day-of-birth cut-off dates and resulted in a marked increase in kindergarten attendance of three-year olds in the following years. Instrumental variable and difference-in-differences estimations on two individual-level data sets yield positive effects of public child care on maternal employment. A set of placebo treatment tests corroborate the validity of our identification strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bauernschuster, Stefan & Schlotter, Martin, 2015. "Public child care and mothers' labor supply—Evidence from two quasi-experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-16.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:123:y:2015:i:c:p:1-16
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.12.013
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public child care; Maternal employment;

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation

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