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School enrolment and mothers’ labor supply: evidence from a regression discontinuity approach

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  • Henning Finseraas

    (Institute for Social Research)

  • Inés Hardoy

    (Institute for Social Research)

  • Pål Schøne

    (Institute for Social Research)

Abstract

We analyze the impact on maternal employment of a universal school reform in Norway which lowered the school starting age from seven to six. We use a regression discontinuity approach exploiting exogenous variation in the compulsory school enrollment rule caused by the reform. Our results reveal positive short-term effects on labor supply (approximately five percentage points) and on earnings (about 12600/1350 NOK/Euro). Subgroup analyses show that the positive effects are much stronger for mothers with low wage potential, a group of mothers that were less likely to use formal childcare prior to the reform. The positive effects for this subgroup of mothers suggest that expanding child-care can be an effective tool for increasing labor supply of mothers who previously had relatively low labor market earnings potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Henning Finseraas & Inés Hardoy & Pål Schøne, 2017. "School enrolment and mothers’ labor supply: evidence from a regression discontinuity approach," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 621-638, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11150-016-9350-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-016-9350-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Swart, Lisette & Van den Berge, Wiljan & van der Wiel, Karen, 2019. "Do Parents Work More When Children Start School? Evidence from the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 12207, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jasmin Thomas, 2024. "Free, full‐day programming for four‐year‐old children in Nova Scotia and women's labour market outcomes," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(2), pages 588-621, May.
    3. Cuiping Schiman, 2022. "Experimental evidence of the effect of head start on mothers’ labor supply and human capital investments," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 199-241, March.
    4. Eckhoff Andresen, Martin & Havnes, Tarjei, 2019. "Child care, parental labor supply and tax revenue," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Bruno Rodrigues & Vincent Vergnat, 2019. "The time and the transitions back to work in France after maternity," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 861-888, September.
    6. Swart, Lisette & Van den Berge, Wiljan & van der Wiel, Karen, 2019. "Do Parents Work More When Children Start School? Evidence from the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 12207, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Schroeter, Sofia & Lalive, Rafael & Karunanethy, Kalaivani, 2024. "School Closures and Parental Labor Supply: Differential Effects of Anticipated and Unanticipated Closures," IZA Discussion Papers 17371, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Matias Berthelon & Diana Kruger & Melanie Oyarzún, 2023. "School schedules and mothers’ employment: evidence from an education reform," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 131-171, March.
    9. Selina Gangl & Martin Huber, 2021. "From homemakers to breadwinners? How mandatory kindergarten affects maternal labour market outcomes," Papers 2111.14524, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2022.
    10. Georgia Rudd & Kane Meissel & Frauke Meyer, 2023. "Measuring Childhood Exposure to Neighbourhood Deprivation at the Macro- and Micro-level in Aotearoa New Zealand," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(4), pages 1581-1606, August.
    11. Gangl, Selina & Huber, Martin, 2021. "From homemakers to breadwinners? How mandatory kindergarten affects maternal labour market attachment," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203636, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association, revised 2021.
    12. Halim,Daniel Zefanya & Perova,Elizaveta & Reynolds,Sarah, 2021. "Childcare and Mothers’ Labor Market Outcomes in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9828, The World Bank.
    13. Kairon Shayne D. Garcia & Benjamin W. Cowan, 2024. "Childcare Responsibilities and Parental Labor Market Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 153-200, June.
    14. Berthelon, Matias & Kruger, Diana & Lauer, Catalina & Tiberti, Luca & Zamora, Carlos, 2020. "Longer School Schedules, Childcare and the Quality of Mothers’ Employment: Evidence from School Reform in Chile," GLO Discussion Paper Series 525, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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