Published:
Konstanz: KOPS Universität Konstanz, 2015
Extent:
1 Online-Ressource
Language:
English
Identifier:
Origination:
Footnote:
In: Journal of Population Economics. Springer. 2015, 28(2), pp. 393-422. ISSN 0933-1433. eISSN 1432-1475
Description:
What happens to children’s long-run cognitive development when introducing universal high-quality childcare for 3-year-olds mainly crowds out family care? To answer this question, we take advantage of a sizeable expansion of publicly subsidized full-time high-quality childcare for 3-year-olds in Spain in the early 1990s. Identification relies on variation in the initial speed of the expansion of childcare slots across states. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we find strong evidence for sizeable improvements in children’s reading skills at age 15 (0.15 standard deviation) and weak evidence for a reduction in grade retentions during primary school (2.5 percentage points). The effects are driven by girls and disadvantaged children.