 Expanding boundaries: The Impact of kindergarten availability on women's employment in ChinaGuanfu Fang and Liya Miao Labour Economics, 2024, vol. 88, issue C Abstract: This paper examines the causal effects of kindergarten availability on female employment outcomes in China. Using a regression discontinuity design based on the eligibility rules for kindergarten attendance, we find that kindergarten eligibility increases the probability of rural mothers working in non-agricultural sectors and their working hours in non-agricultural sectors, mainly by reducing time spent on agricultural and unpaid domestic work. However, we do not find a significant effect for urban mothers, possibly due to the availability of private childcare options. We also show that the impact of kindergarten eligibility on rural mothers' non-agricultural employment is stronger for those from low-income households, nuclear families, and with high exposure to traditional gender norms. Moreover, we provide evidence that kindergarten eligibility increases the non-agricultural employment of co-residing grandmothers in rural areas. Keywords: Developing country; Female employment; Kindergarten eligibility; Regression discontinuity design (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:88:y:2024:i:c:s092753712400037x DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102542 Access Statistics for this article Labour Economics is currently edited by A. Ichino More articles in Labour Economics from Elsevier |
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