Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/300365 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
EUROMOD Working Paper No. EM 1/23
Publisher: 
University of Essex, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), Colchester
Abstract: 
The cost of childcare has a significant impact on the decision of parents - particularly mothers - to work. Prior to the introduction of subsidies for formal childcare in Ireland in 2019 through the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), the cost of full-time centre-based childcare was among the most expensive in the OECD. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the scheme on the labour supply and childcare choices of mothers. We model the joint decision of labour supply and childcare for lone and coupled mothers of children under six. Mothers are likely to respond to the introduction of childcare subsidies in 2019 by switching from informal childcare to formal childcare (11ppt), but not by increasing their participation in the labour market. A hypothetical abolition of all childcare costs would close the gender employment gap, increasing mothers' participation by 30 ppt.
Subjects: 
female labour supply
childcare
discrete choice
JEL: 
J13
J22
C25
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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