Does Information about Inequality and Discrimination in Early Child Care Affect Policy Preferences?

Henning Hermes, Philipp Lergetporer (), Fabian Mierisch, Guido Schwerdt () and Simon Wiederhold ()
Additional contact information
Philipp Lergetporer: Technical University of Munich
Fabian Mierisch: Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Guido Schwerdt: University of Konstanz

No 16759, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We investigate public preferences for equity-enhancing policies in access to early child care, using a survey experiment with a representative sample of the German population (n ≈ 4, 800). We observe strong misperceptions about migrant-native inequalities in early child care that vary by respondents' age and right-wing voting preferences. Randomly providing information about the actual extent of inequalities has a nuanced impact on the support for equity-enhancing policy reforms: it increases support for respondents who initially underestimated these inequalities, and tends to decrease support for those who initially overestimated them. This asymmetric effect leads to a more consensual policy view, substantially decreasing the polarization in policy support between under- and overestimators. Our results suggest that correcting misperceptions can align public policy preferences, potentially leading to less polarized debates about how to address inequalities and discrimination.

Keywords: discrimination; inequality; information; policy support; child care; survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C99 D83 I24 J13 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59 pages
Date: 2024-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2024, 228, 106780, 2024

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Related works:
Working Paper: Does Information about Inequality and Discrimination in Early Child Care Affect Policy Preferences? (2024)
Working Paper: Does Information about Inequality and Discrimination in Early Child Care Affect Policy Preferences? (2024)
Working Paper: Does Information about Inequality and Discrimination in Early Child Care Affect Policy Preferences? (2024)
Working Paper: Does information about inequality and discrimination in early child care affect policy preferences? (2024)
Working Paper: Does information about inequality and discrimination in early child care affect policy preferences? (2024)
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