Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences

Henning Hermes, Philipp Lergetporer, Fabian Mierisch, Guido Schwerdt and Simon Wiederhold ()

No 2/2024, IWH Discussion Papers from Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)

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: child care; discrimination; inequality; information; policy support; survey experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C99 D83 I24 J13 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024, Revised 2024
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 (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Information about inequality in early child care reduces polarization in policy preferences (2024)
Working Paper: Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences (2024)
Working Paper: Information about Inequality in Early Child Care Reduces Polarization in Policy Preferences (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:281780

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