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Does Preschool Tips the Balance in favour of Mothers in the Labour Market? Evidence for Brazil

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  • Zulli María Agostina

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of preschool enrollment on maternal labour market outcomes in Brazil, focusing on the effect of sending the youngest child to preschool and how this varies with the presence of other female family members. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design to exploit changes in preschool-entry age regulations, I find that enrolling the youngest child in preschool increases the probability of employment or job search by 33% and weekly hours worked by 15 hours, increasing the likelihood of holding a full-time job by 30 percentage points. These effects are not observed for mothers enrolling their non-youngest children. Notably, the employment effects are more pronounced for mothers without other female relatives in the household, highlighting the role of informal childcare in alleviating maternal childcare responsibilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Zulli María Agostina, 2024. "Does Preschool Tips the Balance in favour of Mothers in the Labour Market? Evidence for Brazil," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4773, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    • Handle: RePEc:aep:anales:4773
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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