Universal Daycare and Mothers’ Working Lifetime
2026-03-18
This paper examines the effects of universal daycare on mothers’ labour force participation, hours worked, full-time employment, and earnings over their working lives. I exploit variation in access created by the roll-out of daycare centres across Denmark, combined with rich administrative data. Daycare availability positively affects participation (2.3%), hours worked (3.1%), and earnings (3.7%) 16 years after the first child. Secondary fertility choices and parental separation appear to mediate these effects. The effects on labour market outcomes are driven by low-educated mothers, suggesting that lack of subsidised childcare is a larger employment barrier for low-educated mothers.