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Child-Care Policy and the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children: A Natural Experiment from Canada

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  • Pierre Lefebvre
  • Philip Merrigan

Abstract

In 1997, the provincial government of Québec, the second most populous province in Canada, initiated a new child-care policy. Licensed child-care service providers began offering day-care spaces at the reduced fee of $5.00 per day per child for children aged 4. By 2000, the policy applied to all children not in kindergarten. Using annual data (1993-2002) drawn from Statistics Canada's Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, the results show that the policy had a large and statistically significant impact on the labor supply of mothers with preschool children. (c) 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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  • Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2008. "Child-Care Policy and the Labor Supply of Mothers with Young Children: A Natural Experiment from Canada," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 519-548, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:26:y:2008:i:3:p:519-548
    DOI: 10.1086/587760
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