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[Preprint]. 2024 Jun 26:rs.3.rs-4550789.
doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4550789/v1.

Universal Full-Day Kindergarten and Maternal Labor Supply: A Life-Cycle Analysis

Ashley Erceg  1 , Katie Genadek  2 , Kristine West  3
Affiliations

Universal Full-Day Kindergarten and Maternal Labor Supply: A Life-Cycle Analysis

Ashley Erceg et al. Res Sq. .

Abstract

We estimate the effect of state-level policies enacting universal free full-day kindergarten on mothers' labor supply using a life-cycle analysis. Similar to previous research on childcare and labor supply, we find that free full-day kindergarten increases labor force participation rates for mothers whose youngest child is kindergarten-aged by 4.3 to 7.1 percentage points. We find that for mothers whose youngest child is an infant, labor force participation increases by 7.2 to 9.8 percentage points, and for women whose youngest child is 3 to 4 years old labor force participation increases by 5.9 to 7.9 percentage points. The fact that the policies impact the labor supply for mothers of younger-than-kindergarten-age children by even more than for mothers of kindergarten-aged children is important for understanding the full effect of subsidized childcare. This is consistent with a life-cycle model of labor supply where wages and prices in future periods impact mothers' labor force attachment.

Keywords: I2; J13; J18; J20; J30; childcare subsidies; labor supply; mothers; public schooling.

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Conflict of interest statement

Additional Declarations: No competing interests reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Maternal Labor Force Participation for Women with Children under Age 6, Pre and Post Free Full-Day Kindergarten Adoption by State, U.S. Decennial Census Data
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Two-Way Fixed Effects Weights, by Treatment Status Notes: Weights are calculated using the method outlined in Jakiela (2021). The treatment group is comprised of mothers with young children in state-years with universal full-day kindergarten and the comparison groups are non-mothers in those states as well as mothers with older children in state-years without universal full-day kindergarten.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Effect of Full-Day Kindergarten on Women’s Labor Force Participation, Results by Equation Notes: This figure plots the triple-difference coefficients and confidence intervals from equation 1 (solid dots), equation 2 (hollow diamond), and using the estimator developed in Borusyak et al. (2021) (x) for each age-of-youngest-child cohort. Estimates for youngest child 0–2 are in blue. Estimates for youngest child 3–4 are in green. Estimates for youngest child 5–6 (kindergarten-aged) are in red.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Event Study Estimates of the effect of full-day kindergarten on women’s labor force participation Notes: Results are from CPS data, and the sample includes all women ages 18–55. The models also include the following variables: age, age-squared, college-age indicator, married indicator, race, education, number of children in household, number of adults in the household, non-labor income, non-labor income squared, urban residence, state fixed effects, and year fixed effects. Robust standard errors clustered at the state level. This figure plots the triple-difference coefficients and confidence intervals of event study estimates of the effect of full-day kindergarten on
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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