Part-time versus full-time work and child care costs: evidence for married mothers

Abstract

This paper contributes to the analysis of female labour supply by accounting for both child care costs and differences in part-time and full-time work. An ordered probit model is used to examine the impact of child care costs on the work status of married mothers. Data are drawn from the Canadian National Child Care Survey and the Labour Market Activity Survey. The results from this paper show the degree to which child care subsidies may have differential impacts on part-time and full-time work decisions by mothers: the child care cost elasticities for part-time and full-time employment are reported to be -0.21 and -0.71, respectively.