Full-time universal childcare in a context of low maternal employment: Quasi-experimental evidence from Spain

Natalia Nollenberger and Núria Rodriguez-Planas

Labour Economics, 2015, vol. 36, issue C, 124-136

Abstract: Using a natural experiment framework, we study the effects of offering full-time public childcare for 3-year-olds in a context of low female labor force participation and insufficient infrastructure of childcare slots. We find that two mothers entered employment for every ten additional children enrolled in public childcare. The effect is driven by mothers 30years old and older and those with two children or more. While our estimates compare to those found earlier, they cannot be explained by a crowding out of alternative childcare modes. Nonetheless, as the reform was implemented in a period of low labor demand in Spain, our estimates may not be as modest at they appear at first sight.

Keywords: Maternal employment; Preschool children; Childcare; Difference-in-difference-in-differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H42 H52 I20 J13 J21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (100)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:36:y:2015:i:c:p:124-136

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2015.02.008

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