The Importance of Child Care for Mothers' Employment and Fertility

摘要

The increase in the employment of mothers with pre-school children has created a rise in the demand for child care facilities. Whether greater access to child care increases or decreases the fertility of employed women is much debated. The objectives of this study are to clarify the role which substitute child care plays in the employment-fertility relationship, and to determine whether the findings provide support for either the role-incompatibility or the alternative gratification hypothesis. The data come from a longitudinal study of a representative sample of N.Y. City mothers of pre-school children.