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Childcare and maternal employment in Germany during the 2000’s

Wranke, Nora Josephine LU (2025) EKHS21 20251
Department of Economic History
Abstract (Swedish)
Family policies, including but not limited to the expansion of formal childcare, are often introduced to facilitate the combination of family care responsibilities and paid labour market participation. While a few studies do not yield evidence of a causal relationship, a large body of literature agrees on the relationship between childcare and maternal employment. Thus, this thesis analyses the effects of increased childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years on maternal employment in Germany, a country with historically lower maternal employment. Policy changes introduced in 2005 and 2008 are considered as a natural experiment in this context. Both policies aimed to increase childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years.... (More)
Family policies, including but not limited to the expansion of formal childcare, are often introduced to facilitate the combination of family care responsibilities and paid labour market participation. While a few studies do not yield evidence of a causal relationship, a large body of literature agrees on the relationship between childcare and maternal employment. Thus, this thesis analyses the effects of increased childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years on maternal employment in Germany, a country with historically lower maternal employment. Policy changes introduced in 2005 and 2008 are considered as a natural experiment in this context. Both policies aimed to increase childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years. Using a combination of household- and individual-level data provided by the German Institute for Economic Research, a difference in difference model including two control groups is applied. Several placebo and group specific trend tests confirm the validity of the regression model. Inconclusive results from the analysis with both control groups and an overall increase of maternal employment in Germany hint at the importance of several factors, including socio-economic and cultural changes. But the results also show an increasing effect of childcare availability on maternal employment in Germany between 2005 and 2008. (Less)
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author
Wranke, Nora Josephine LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The impact of childcare policies on the development of maternal employment of mothers of young children
course
EKHS21 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
family policies, childcare, maternal employment, regional differences, Germany
language
English
id
9203216
date added to LUP
2025-08-18 10:51:39
date last changed
2025-08-18 10:51:39
@misc{9203216,
  abstract     = {{Family policies, including but not limited to the expansion of formal childcare, are often introduced to facilitate the combination of family care responsibilities and paid labour market participation. While a few studies do not yield evidence of a causal relationship, a large body of literature agrees on the relationship between childcare and maternal employment. Thus, this thesis analyses the effects of increased childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years on maternal employment in Germany, a country with historically lower maternal employment. Policy changes introduced in 2005 and 2008 are considered as a natural experiment in this context. Both policies aimed to increase childcare availability for children aged 1 to 3 years. Using a combination of household- and individual-level data provided by the German Institute for Economic Research, a difference in difference model including two control groups is applied. Several placebo and group specific trend tests confirm the validity of the regression model. Inconclusive results from the analysis with both control groups and an overall increase of maternal employment in Germany hint at the importance of several factors, including socio-economic and cultural changes. But the results also show an increasing effect of childcare availability on maternal employment in Germany between 2005 and 2008.}},
  author       = {{Wranke, Nora Josephine}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Childcare and maternal employment in Germany during the 2000’s}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}