Child care availability, quality and affordability: are local problems related to labour supply?

Abstract

We examine whether responses to survey questions about child care availability, quality and cost, aggregated at the local geographical level, have any explanatory power in models of partnered female and lone parent labour supply. We find evidence that partnered women and lone parents who live in areas with more reports of lack of availability, low quality or costly child care work fewer hours and are less likely to work than women in areas with fewer reported difficulties with child care.