This paper examines the multigenerational impact of children and whether the public provision of formal childcare lessens the earnings and employment impacts of children. We find that the arrival of a firstborn reduces employment and earnings of mothers and employment of grandmothers. Studying a universal childcare program in Quebec, we find formal childcare increases the employment rates of mothers, as well as that of grandmothers to a lesser extent. Examining heterogeneity of the program's impact across Census Divisions, we find a negative correlation between the positive effects on mothers' employment and the pre-policy supply of informal childcare by grandmothers.
Authors
- Acknowledgements & Disclosure
- We thank Janice Compton, Catherine Haeck, Olga Malkova, Doug Miller, Matt Notowidigdo, Alex Whalley, Nicolas Ziebarth, and seminar participants at various seminars and conferences for helpful comments. Financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3386/w32204
- Published in
- United States of America
