School of Economics

 Invites you to a

Microeconometrics & Public Policy seminar presented by

Tung Dang
(The University of Sydney)

Childcare Quality, Maternal Labor Market Outcomes, and Child Development: Evidence from Australia’s First Decade of the National Quality Framework

Co-authors
(Deborah Cobb-Clark – The University of Sydney)
(Hayley Fisher – The University of Sydney)

Friday 17 November 2023

12.00pm – 1.00pm

Seminar Room 650
A02 Social Sciences Building

Camperdown Campus
The University of Sydney NSW 2006

Using administrative data on Australian daycare services, we examine the impact of early childcare availability and quality on childcare utilization, mothers’ labor market outcomes, and children’s development. Our generalized triple difference approach exploits regional changes in daycare availability and quality over time, leveraging outcomes of older, school-aged children and their mothers as counterfactual comparisons. We document a substantial positive effect of daycare availability offered by high-quality services on the use of formal care and mothers’ employment and earnings. In contrast, increased availability offered by low-quality services simply crowds out existing care arrangements without affecting maternal employment. Pending ABS’s output clearance, we will discuss preliminary findings concerning the relationship between local daycare quality and children’s developmental outcomes. Taken together, our findings highlight the importance of childcare quality in shaping families’ childcare utilization and mothers’ employment decisions.

For further information contact: Microeconometrics & Public Policy Seminar Coordinator
Dr Gregor Pfeifer & Dr Rebecca McKibbin

For all upcoming seminars in School of Economics see Our events and Calendar