Marital Status and Full-Time/Part-Time Work Status in Child Care Choices

Authors

Rachel Connelly, Bowdoin College
Jean Kimmel, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment ResearchFollow

Series

Upjohn Institute Working Paper No. 99-58

**Published Version**

In Applied Economics 35(7): 761-777

DOI

10.17848/wp99-58

Issue Date

March 2000

Abstract

Using recent SIPP data, we estimate two econometric models to study the differences in the effect of child care costs on employment status and differences in the mode of child care used controlling for employment status. For both married and single women, full-time employment is more elastic with respect to changes in the price of child care than part-time employment and employment elasticities are larger for single than married mothers. In the model of child care modal choice, we find that an increased probability of full-time employment is associated with an increase in the use of center care and a reduction in relative care for both married and single mothers, and that price elasticities of modal choice are larger for single than married mothers.

Sponsorship

Funding provided by an ASPE/U.S. Census Bureau Small Grant. Research support also provided by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, Bowdoin College, and Peking University.

Subject Areas

EDUCATION; Early childhood; LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Employment relationships; Nonstandard work arrangements; Work and family balance