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The Availability of Child Care Centers, Perceived Search Costs and Parental Life Satisfaction

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  • Chikako Yamauchi

Abstract

The supply of formal childcare has expanded in many developed countries. There is ambiguity, however, in the theory that the entry of care providers increases consumers’ surplus and the welfare of households in a market with differentiated services, such as childcare. This study empirically investigates how perceived search costs and parental life satisfaction change when actual childcare availability is altered. It exploits the new panel data from Australia on the number of center-based childcare places per 100 children within a household’s residential area. The results show that an increase in the availability of centerbased childcare is associated with a decrease in perceived difficulty in finding ‘good quality’ childcare, as well as an improvement in mothers’ satisfaction with the increased availability of free time. These findings imply that the local availability of center-based childcare has enhanced the subjective well-being of parents.

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  • Chikako Yamauchi, 2009. "The Availability of Child Care Centers, Perceived Search Costs and Parental Life Satisfaction," CEPR Discussion Papers 620, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:dpaper:620
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    File URL: https://www.cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEPR/DP620.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Pennerstorfer, Astrid & Pennerstorfer, Dieter, 2019. "How small are small markets? Local market size for child care services," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 340-355.
    2. Marie Connolly & Catherine Haeck, 2015. "Are Childcare Subsidies Good for Parental Well-being? Empirical Evidence from Three Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(01), pages 09-15, April.
    3. Astrid Pennerstorfer & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2019. "Inequalities in spatial accessibility of childcare: The role of non-profit providers," Economics working papers 2019-15, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    4. Chikako Yamauchi, 2010. "The availability of child care centers, perceived search costs and parental life satisfaction," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 231-253, June.
    5. Davis, Elizabeth E. & Lee, Won Fy & Sojourner, Aaron, 2018. "Family-Centered Measures of Access to Early Care and Education," IZA Discussion Papers 11396, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Pia S. Schober & Christian Schmitt, 2013. "Day-Care Expansion and Parental Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 602, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. repec:ces:ifodic:v:13:y:2015:i:1:p:19160201 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Paul Hagstrom & Stephen Wu, 2016. "Are pregnant women happier? Racial and ethnic differences in the relationship between pregnancy and life satisfaction in the United States," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 507-527, September.
    9. Georg F. Camehl & C. Katharina Spieß & Kurt Hahlweg, 2019. "Short- and Mid-Term Effects of a Parenting Program on Maternal Well-Being: Evidence for More and Less Advantaged Mothers," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1062, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. Astrid Pennerstorfer & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2018. "How Small are Small Markets? Location Choice and Geographical Market Size for Child Care Services," Economics working papers 2018-14, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    11. Robert Breunig & Andrew Weiss & Chikako Yamauchi & Xiaodong Gong & Joseph Mercante, 2011. "Child Care Availability, Quality and Affordability: Are Local Problems Related to Labour Supply?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(276), pages 109-124, March.
    12. Camehl, Georg F. & Spiess, Christa Katharina & Hahlweg, Kurt, 2020. "The Effects of a Parenting Program on Maternal Well-Being: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Ahead of .
    13. Camehl Georg F. & Spiess Christa Katharina & Hahlweg Kurt, 2020. "The Effects of a Parenting Program on Maternal Well-Being: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 1-26, October.
    14. Xiumin Hong & Jingyuan Wang & Wenting Zhu, 2022. "The Relationship between Childcare Services Participation and Parental Subjective Well-Being under China’s Three-Child Policy—Based on the Mediation Effect of Parenting Stress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Marie Connolly & Catherine Haeck, 2015. "Are Childcare Subsidies Good for Parental Well-being? Empirical Evidence from Three Countries," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(1), pages 09-15, 04.
    16. Camehl, Georg & Hahlweg, Kurt & Spieß, C. Katharina, 2018. "The Effects of a Parenting Program on Maternal Well-Being: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181583, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    17. Sophia Schmitz, 2020. "The Impact of Publicly Funded Childcare on Parental Well-Being: Evidence from Cut-Off Rules," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(2), pages 171-196, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    child care; entry; search; consumers’ surplus; life satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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