Public kindergarten, maternal labor supply, and earnings in the longer run: Too little too late?

Abstract

By facilitating early re‐entry to the labor market after childbirth, public kindergarten might positively affect maternal human capital and labor market outcomes: Are such effects long‐lasting? Can we rely on between‐individuals differences in quarter of birth to identify them? I isolate the effects of interest from spurious associations through difference‐in‐difference, exploiting across‐states and over‐time variation in public kindergarten eligibility regulations in the United States. The estimates suggest a very limited impact in the first year, and no longer‐run impacts. Even in states where it does not affect kindergarten eligibility, quarter of birth is strongly and significantly correlated with maternal outcomes.

Free, full‐day programming for four‐year‐old children in Nova Scotia and women's labour market outcomes

“…pre-kindergarten availability on mother's labour market outcomes in Iowa, Florida and Vermont, with estimates suggesting no effect on the extensive margin and reductions along the intensive margin. Because this paper examines an age-specific policy that reduces child care costs to zero and effectively guarantees eligibility, it is closely related to the work of Gelbach (2002), Fitzpatrick (2010Fitzpatrick ( , 2012, Cascio (2009), Cascio and Schanzenbach (2013), Ilin et al (2022), Malik (2018), Li (2020), Soldani (2021) and Sall (2014). These papers examine the impact on mothers' labour supply of eligibility for either preschool or kindergarten in the United States.…”