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Child care availability and first-birth timing in Norway
Ronald R Rindfuss1, David Guilkey, S Philip Morgan
1Sociology Department, University of North Carolina and East-West Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Campus Box 8120, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524, USA. ron_rindfuss@unc.edu
Demography
|June 23, 2007
Summary
Increased access to high-quality child care encourages women to become mothers. This study found strong positive effects of child care availability on the transition to motherhood, challenging previous inconsistent findings.
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Economics
- Demography
Background:
- Sociological and economic theories suggest child care availability should increase birth rates.
- Empirical evidence supporting this pronatalist effect has been inconsistent.
- Previous studies lacked controls for child care center placement and migration.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the pronatalist effect of child care availability on the transition to motherhood.
- To address limitations in previous empirical research through improved methodology.
Main Methods:
- Utilized Norwegian register data for comprehensive analysis.
- Employed a statistically robust fixed-effects model to control for endogeneity.
- Accounted for potential migration patterns related to child care access.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated a strong positive association between child care availability and the likelihood of becoming a mother.
- Found significant pronatalist effects of child care access.
Conclusions:
- Child care availability is a significant factor influencing decisions about motherhood.
- The findings support the theoretical link between child care policy and fertility.
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