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Friday, March 15, 2013 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Abstract: Female labor force participation has increased rapidly during the last 25 years in Chile, from 29 to 42%, yet it remains among the lowest in Latin America and among OECD countries. Women with less education, in poverty, and with young children are less likely to be in the labor force. One of the main reasons women cite for not participating is lack of adequate care for their children. In this paper, we investigate the effect of a national school reform that increased time children spend in in school—essentially providing zero-cost child care—on women’s decision to participate in the labor force. Due to the reform’s design, we are able to apply difference-in-difference methodology. We construct a unique panel data set from Chile’s Social Protection Survey, fielded every two years from 2002 through 2009, and match it to administrative school data. We find evidence of a positive and important effect of longer school days on female labor force participation. (Co-writers: Matias Berthelon  and Melanie Oyarzún)   

This event appears on the following calendars:

• Lectures / Seminars*
• Liberal Arts