Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/214192 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Journal:] Empirical Economics [Volume:] 57 [Issue:] 3 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 769-803
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin
Abstract: 
The availability of childcare is a crucial factor for mothers' labour force participation. While most of the literature examines childcare for preschool children, we specifically focus on primary school-aged children, estimating the effect of formal afternoon care on maternal labour supply. To do so, we use a novel matching technique, entropy balancing, and draw on the rich and longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). We show that children's afternoon care increases mothers' employment rates and their working hours. To confirm the robustness of our results, we conduct a series of sensitivity analyses and apply a newly proposed method to assess possible bias from omitted variables. Our findings highlight how childcare availability shapes maternal employment patterns well after school entry.
Subjects: 
Afternoon care
Maternal labour supply
All-day schools
Entropy balancing
JEL: 
J13
J63
J65
Published Version’s DOI: 
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)

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