Does more free childcare help parents work more?

Mike Brewer, Sarah Cattan (), Claire Crawford () and Birgitta Rabe
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Claire Crawford: Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Birmingham

No W16/22, IFS Working Papers from Institute for Fiscal Studies

Abstract: Many governments are considering expanding childcare subsidies, but little is known about the impact of such policies on parent’s labour supply. Exploiting free childcare eligibility rules based on date of birth in a difference-in-differences framework, we compare the effects of offering free part-time childcare and of expanding this offer to the whole school day. Free part-time childcare only affects the labour force participation of mothers whose youngest child is eligible. Expanding from part-time to full-time free childcare leads to significant increases in labour force participation and employment of these mothers, which emerge immediately and grow over the months following entitlement.

Keywords: Labour supply; childcare; school entry; difference-in-difference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-12-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-pbe
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Does more free childcare help parents work more? (2022)
Working Paper: Does more free childcare help parents work more? (2020)
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