How job attractiveness is shaped by employer-provided childcare arrangements

Morien El Haj (), Eline Moens, Elsy Verhofstadt, Luc Van Ootegem and Stijn Baert
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Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium from Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Abstract: In tight labour markets, where employers compete not only on wages but also on amenities such as job family friendliness, employer-provided childcare arrangements serve as a powerful tool to attract and retain working parents. Yet little causal evidence exists on how employees evaluate such benefits. Therefore, this study uses a scenario experiment among working parents of young children to examine how job attractiveness is shaped by variations in employer-provided childcare arrangements – in terms of location, opening hours, and price – along with the possibility of teleworking. Our results show that all forms of employer-provided childcare increase job attractiveness, with childcare facilities operating on schedules explicitly aligned with employees’ working hours having the strongest effects. Working parents are willing to forego a 20% wage increase in a new job to obtain this latter amenity. They expect such amenity to improve their job satisfaction, performance, stress management, and work–family balance. Our results imply that the policy offers mutual gains for both employees and employers.

Keywords: Childcare; Telework; Job attractiveness; Willingness to pay; Factorial survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 J13 J16 J24 J81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2026-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-lma
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rug:rugwps:26/1132

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