Verlag:
Université du Québec à Montréal, École des sciences de la gestion (ESG UQAM), Groupe de recherche sur le capital humain (GRCH), Montréal
Zusammenfassung:
We study the impact of affordable after-school care programs on the labor market outcomes of mothers. Specifically, we analyze the effects of a policy implemented in Quebec (Canada) in 1998, which reduced the costs and expanded the availability of after-school care programs for primary school children. To identify the causal effects of the policy, we use tax return data and a triple difference strategy, where we compare mothers of primary school children in Quebec and the rest of Canada, before and after the policy, relative to women with no children. Ten years after the policy implementation, we find an average increase in after-school care use of at least 32 school days. This increase is associated with a significant 11% increase in labor income for mothers with primary school children, mainly driven by an increase at the intensive margin of labor supply.