 Effects of Childcare Policies on Fertility and Maternal Labor Supply: Focus on Endogenous Gender Power Within HouseholdsRyo Sakamoto Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2025, vol. 27, issue 4 Abstract: Previous studies have shown inconsistent results on the effects of the provision of childcare services on fertility and maternal labor supply. This study builds a dynamic collective labor supply model to analyze the effect of the increased availability of childcare services on fertility and maternal labor supply. Our model features the endogenous intrahousehold bargaining power of each household member and the power of each to veto having children. We find that intrahousehold bargaining power is a key determinant of whether the childcare policy is effective. Using country‐level panel data, we confirm the implication derived from our model. That is, the increase in childcare services is positively associated with the employment of mothers with small children only when their intrahousehold bargaining power is sufficiently high. This study's findings suggest the importance of considering intrahousehold bargaining power explicitly when evaluating family policies that intervene in the household's decision‐making. Date: 2025 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:27:y:2025:i:4:n:e70052 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Journal of Public Economic Theory is currently edited by Rabah Amir, Gareth Myles and Myrna Wooders More articles in Journal of Public Economic Theory from Association for Public Economic Theory Contact information at EDIRC. |
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