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Title: The Relationship Between Child Care Affordability and Part-Time Work Among Low-Income, Single Working Mothers
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2023
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Abstract: Women make up a disproportionate number of part-time workers. Compared to full-time work, part-time work is associated with lower wages, fewer benefits, fewer opportunities for job advancement, and less work consistency and reliability. Women cite a number of reasons for working part-time, including lack of access to affordable child care. However, there is little research on whether child care affordability has a relationship with a woman’s decision to work part- or full-time. My study addresses this gap in the literature using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) expenditure data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and individual-level employment data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement for years 2015-2019. I estimate the relationship between governmental child care subsidies and the probability that a low-incomeemployed-single-mother works part- or full-time. I find no statistically significant association between the CCDF subsidy and the probability of full-time vs. part-time work. This finding is consistent across sensitivity analyses controlling for an individual’s race, age, education, family size, children’s age, disability and health status, as well as a state’s economic characteristics. It is also consistent among sensitivity analyses focused on women below 100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Line and that define full-time work as at least 35 hours and at least 21 hours per week. Future research is needed to conclusively decide whether child care subsidies are an important tool for connecting women with the robust wages and benefits of full-time work.
Url: https://www.proquest.com/docview/2808449147?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true
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Authors: Lepage, Brooke Mocarski
Institution: Georgetown University
Department: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
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Publisher Location: Washington, DC
Pages: 1-47
Data Collections: IPUMS CPS
Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Poverty and Welfare, Work, Family, and Time
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