The short- and medium-term effects of full-day schooling on learning and maternal labor supply

This paper analyzes the short- and medium-term effects of longer school days in primary education on student learning and on mothers’ labor supply. To tackle selection into the full-time (FT) scheme, we rely on a novel data set of primary-school application forms. We are thus able to control for parental preferences and to exploit the non-linear variation in the probability of attending the FT scheme that stems from the mix of FT and part-time applications a school receives and caps on class-sizes set by law. We show that attendance in the FT scheme does increase test scores in Math in grades 2 and 5 and scores in Italian in grade 2, but also that these effects are completely offset by the time students reach grade 8. Conversely, there is a positive and long-lasting impact on maternal labor force participation. Finally, we find some evidence of negative selection on gains, as the groups of students and mothers who would stand to benefit the most from FT are neither those more likely to apply for the FT scheme nor those whose applications for FT are more likely to be accepted.