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Effects of Early Childhood Intervention on Maternal Employment, Fertility and Well-Being: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

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  • Sandner, Malte

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a randomized study of a home visiting program implemented in Germany for first-time mothers on welfare. A major goal of the program is to increase the participants economic self-sufficiency. I use administrative data from the Federal Employment Agency and detailed telephone surveys to examine the effects of the intervention. The findings reveal that the intervention does not affect maternal employment or school attendance but unintentionally increases subsequent births. The program s effect on fertility can be explained by higher maternal life satisfaction and well-being in the treatment group which led to fewer abortions compared with the control group. These results are in contrast to those of previous studies from the United States, where home visiting programs increased employment and decreased fertility.

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  • Sandner, Malte, 2015. "Effects of Early Childhood Intervention on Maternal Employment, Fertility and Well-Being: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113029, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:113029
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    Cited by:

    1. Sandner, Malte & Cornelissen, Thomas & Jungmann, Tanja & Herrmann, Peggy, 2018. "Evaluating the effects of a targeted home visiting program on maternal and child health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 269-283.
    2. Doyle, Orla & Harmon, Colm & Heckman, James J. & Logue, Caitriona & Moon, Seong Hyeok, 2017. "Early skill formation and the efficiency of parental investment: A randomized controlled trial of home visiting," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 40-58.
    3. Sandner, Malte & Jungmann, Tanja, 2017. "Gender-specific effects of early childhood intervention: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 59-78.
    4. Malte Sandner & Stephan L. Thomsen & Libertad González Luna, 2020. "Preventing child maltreatment: Beneficial side effects of public childcare provision," Economics Working Papers 1744, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    5. 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.
    6. Sandner, Malte & Jungmann, Tanja, 2016. "How much can we trust maternal ratings of early child development in disadvantaged samples?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 73-76.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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