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“Who’ll take the chair?” Maternal employment effects of a Polish (pre)school reform

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  • Yusuf Emre Akgündüz

    (Sabanci University)

  • Thomas Huizen

    (Utrecht University)

  • Janneke Plantenga

    (Utrecht University)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of preschool availability on the employment of mothers of preschool-aged children. We exploit a transitional phase of a 2009 Polish education reform that simultaneously lowered the primary school age from 7 to 6 and provided a statutory right to preschool to 5-year-olds. As a significant share of 6-year-old children moved into primary schools a year earlier, their preschool seats effectively became available for younger children. The reform thereby led to a substantial rise in the number of available preschool seats for 3- to 5-year-olds. Using regional variation in the degree of preschool expansion, we estimate the impact of the increased availability of preschool seats on maternal employment. Our results indicate a significant and sizable employment effect: a 10% points increase in the ratio of preschool seats to preschool-aged children increases maternal employment by around 4.2% points. The effect seems to be concentrated among highly educated mothers and mothers with a youngest child of age three.

Suggested Citation

  • Yusuf Emre Akgündüz & Thomas Huizen & Janneke Plantenga, 2021. "“Who’ll take the chair?” Maternal employment effects of a Polish (pre)school reform," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 1097-1133, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:61:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s00181-020-01877-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-020-01877-5
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    1. Edlira Narazania & Ana Agundez Garcia & Michael Christl & Francesco Figari, 2023. "The impact of alternative childcare policies on mothers' employment in selected EU countries," Working Papers 636, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Preschool; Employment; Hours worked; Difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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