Public Early Childhood Care Provision
RCTReview
Motherhood forces women into informal employment as mothers seek job flexibility to handle disproportionate domestic childcare responsibilities, widening gender income gaps.
Picture this
Imagine trying to operate a structured retail shop while simultaneously watching a toddler without help. The shopkeeper must close the store whenever the child needs care, forcing her into flexible, off-the-books street vending. Free public daycare provides a reliable caregiver during work hours, enabling mothers to retain formal jobs.
What the evidence says
Free early childhood education significantly reduced the post-motherhood spike in female informality, helping address the 76.4% informal contract rate among Brazilian domestic workers in late 2023.
- Who was studied
- Working mothers and young children in Brazil (Attanasio et al., 2022) and across Latin American countries (Chile, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay).
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) and longitudinal household impact evaluation.
What to do
Construct and subsidize municipal early childhood education centers to reduce maternal domestic care burdens and preserve formal labor market participation.
From the source
"In this context, investing in the quality and scope of social protection for working mothers, for example, through the provision of free early childhood education, can help reduce the increase in informality caused by motherhood"
JOI_Brazil_Evidence_in_Labor_Market_Policies_and_Implications_for.pdf