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Childcare and maternal part-time employment: a natural experiment using Swiss cantons

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  • Laura Ravazzini

    (University of Neuchatel
    FORS, Géopolis, University of Lausanne)

Abstract

Fuelled by federal stimuli of 440 million Swiss francs, the staggered expansion of childcare in many cantons allows the evaluation of this family policy on female labour supply. With new cantonal data, this study analyses both the decision to participate in the labour market and the intensity of participation. Empirical results of difference-in-differences regressions show that mothers work at higher percentage rates if they live in cantons that have expanded their childcare services more than the national average. The reform stimulated part-time employment of between 20 and 36 h per week by 2 percentage points. The expansion of childcare particularly affected women with two children and upper-secondary education, who are married or cohabit with their partner.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Ravazzini, 2018. "Childcare and maternal part-time employment: a natural experiment using Swiss cantons," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 154(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sjecst:v:154:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s41937-017-0003-x
    DOI: 10.1186/s41937-017-0003-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lalive, Rafael, 2021. "Mothers at Work: How Mandating Paid Maternity Leave Affects Employment, Earnings and Fertility," CEPR Discussion Papers 16418, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Hermes, Henning & Krauß, Marina & Lergetporer, Philipp & Peter, Frauke & Wiederhold, Simon, 2022. "Early child care and labor supply of lower-SES mothers: A randomized controlled trial," DICE Discussion Papers 394, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    4. Regula Zimmermann & Jean-Marie LeGoff, 2020. "The Transition to Parenthood in the French and German Speaking Parts of Switzerland," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 35-45.
    5. Sandner, Malte & Bärtsch, Laurenz, 2023. "Reducing the Child Penalty by Incentivizing Part-Time Work? Evidence from a Paid Parental Leave Reform in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277702, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. 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.
    7. Ms Fozia & Durdana Qaiser Gillani & Asifa Iftikhar, 2022. "Do Employed Females Provide Better Care to Their Children? The Case of Education and Health Care in Pakistan," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 4(2), pages 134-141.
    8. 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.
    9. Girsberger, Esther Mirjam & Hassani-Nezhad, Lena & Karunanethy, Kalaivani & Lalive, Rafael, 2023. "Mothers at work: How mandating a short maternity leave affects work and fertility," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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