Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Child Care Costs On The Labor Force Participation And Welfare Recipiency Of Single Mothers: Implications For Welfare Reform, Rachel Connelly, Jean Kimmel

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper considers the effect of child care costs on two labor market outcomes for single mothers - whether to participate in the labor market and whether to receive welfare. Hourly child care expenditures are estimated for all women in the sample (using data drawn from the 1992 and 1993 panels of the SIPP), whether or not they are currently using nonmaternal child care. These expenditures are then included as an independent variable predicting the probability of welfare recipiency and the probability of labor force participation. Results show a substantial positive effect of child care costs on welfare recipiency, with …