Daycare Accessibility and Maternal Labor Market Outcomes: Do Quality Ratings Matter?

Deborah A. Cobb-Clark (), Tung Dang () and Hayley Fisher ()
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Deborah A. Cobb-Clark: University of Sydney
Hayley Fisher: University of Sydney

No 18300, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using administrative data on Australian daycare centers and a triple-difference design, we examine the impact of daycare availability and quality ratings on childcare utilization and mothers’ labor market outcomes. We document a substantial positive impact of daycare availability and higher quality ratings on formal care usage and mothers’ employment and earnings. The effect of quality ratings is particularly pronounced among high-income, more-educated, and first-time mothers, whose perceptions of local daycare quality are most responsive to changes in ratings. Our findings underscore the important roles of childcare quality, in addition to accessibility, in shaping families’ childcare choices and mothers’ employment decisions.

Keywords: earnings; employment; utilization; quality; childcare; administrative data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J22 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
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