Does privatization of daycare affect maternal employment

ABSTRACTThis article is the first attempt to examine the privatization effects of daycare centres on the employment of mothers with preschool children. Analysing newly constructed municipality-level data for 2000, 2005 and 2010 in Japan, the results suggest that an increased proportion of private daycare centres has positive effects on mothers’ labour force participation, and the effects are large for municipalities in Tokyo metropolitan area.