How Job Attractiveness Is Shaped by Employer-Provided Childcare Arrangements

Morien El Haj, Eline Moens, Elsy Verhofstadt, Luc Van Ootegem and Stijn Baert
Additional contact information
Morien El Haj: Ghent University
Eline Moens: Ghent University
Luc Van Ootegem: Ghent University

No 18430, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

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)
Date: 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-lma
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Working Paper: How job attractiveness is shaped by employer-provided childcare arrangements (2026)
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