Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Well-Being, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Datasets

Chris Herbst and Erdal Tekin
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Chris Herbst: Arizona State University

No 1368, Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: A complete account of the U.S. child care subsidy system requires an understanding of its implications for both parental and child well-being. Although the effects of child care subsidies on maternal employment and child development have been recently studied, many other dimensions of family well-being have received little attention. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining the impact of child care subsidy receipt on maternal health and the quality of child-parent interactions. The empirical analyses use data from three nationally representative surveys, providing access to numerous measures of family well-being. In addition, we attempt to handle the possibility of non-random selection into subsidy receipt by using several identification strategies both within and across the surveys. Our results consistently indicate that child care subsidies are associated with worse maternal health and poorer interactions between parents and their children. In particular, subsidized mothers report lower levels of overall health and are more likely to show symptoms consistent with anxiety, depression, and parenting stress. Such mothers also reveal more psychological and physical aggression toward their children and are more likely to utilize spanking as a disciplinary tool. Together, these findings suggest that work-based public policies aimed at economically disadvantaged mothers may ultimately undermine family well-being.

Keywords: child care; subsidy; employment; Child Care and Development Fund; families; mothers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D60 I00 I38 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/sites/fragilefamilies/files/wp12-01-ff.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Well-Being, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Datasets (2012)
Working Paper: Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Well-Being, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Datasets (2012)
Working Paper: Child Care Subsidies, Maternal Well-Being, and Child-Parent Interactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Datasets (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:crcwel:wp11-20-ff.pdf

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