Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) cordially invites you to join the hybrid brown bag seminar with Vincent Somville presenting a working paper titled How Childcare Affects Incomes and Labour Supply: Experimental Evidence from Uganda.

How Childcare Affects Incomes and Labour Supply: Experimental Evidence from Uganda

(Co-authors: Kjetil Bjorvatn, Denise Ferris, Selim Gulesci, Arne Nasgowitz & Lore Vandewalle)

Abstract

How do childcare subsidies affect (i) women’s and their household’s labor supply and income, and (ii) child development? In order to answer these questions, we implement a field experiment in Uganda where we randomly offer women with children aged 3-5 access to (i) free childcare (ii) a cash grant (iii) both a cash grant and free childcare. A fourth group of women remain as the control group. Access to childcare increases household income by 30 percent and improves child development substantially, but has limited effects on women’s labor supply and income. Cash grants have similar effects on income but have no significant impact on child development. Our findings imply that access to childcare can be a cost-effective way not only to improve child development but also to increase household income directly.