Child Care: Child Care Subsidies Increase Likelihood That Low-Income Mothers WillWork

摘要

Because low-income mothers often must pay for all or part of their child careexpenses, the cost of child care remains an employment barrier to many of them. Recognizing this need, the Congress has created four child care programs for low-income families since 1988. To better understand the role that child care costs play in the likelihood that low-income mothers will work, you asked us to examine this relationship. Specifically, we determined the probability of poor and near-poor mothers working as their child care expenditures change, as compared with nonpoor mothers. To estimate the impact of child care expenditures on mothers' decision to work, and to compare the impact among poor, near-poor, and nonpoor mothers, we developed an empirical model using available data from the Urban Institute's 1990 National Child Care Survey.