Intervention, evaluation questions, and policy relevance Various countries around the world have implemented daycare programs to provide support for working mothers and improve children's wellbeing. Daycare programs offer alternative care options to a growing number of women who seek to balance childcare with work or education. In addition, programs that promote adequate nutrition and early stimulation are shown to have a positive impact on children's health, nutrition and development. This twofold justification for such daycare programs accounts for their growing popularity and widespread implementation. Nevertheless, the impact of daycare programs, particularly in developing countries, is an under-researched area. The aim of the study was to respond to this research gap by carrying out a rigorous impact evaluation of the Mexican daycare program Programa de Estancias Infantiles para Apoyar a Madres Trabajadoras (henceforth referred to as PEI, the Spanish acronym of the program).This study evaluates the impact of this program on the labor market participation and time allocation of beneficiary mothers, as well as the health, nutrition and development of their children. In this way, this evaluation report will assess the effectiveness of the program, identify potential areas for improvement, and contribute to the accumulating evidence on the effectiveness of such programs in developing countries. 1.1 Intervention The PEI provides subsidized care and childcare services (of a value of up to USD$55 per child or USD$111 dollars per child with disabilities 1) to mothers and single fathers who are working, seeking employment or studying, thereby enabling them to enter or remain in the labor market or in education. In addition, the program provides financial support to those willing to create and operate daycare centers in order to increase childcare availability for low income families 2. Potential and target population The PEI was established in January 2007 with a target population of low income mothers 3 aged fourteen or older, with at least one child between 1 and 3 years 11 months of age or from 1 to 5 years 11 months old for children with disabilities. The program specifically aims to target households, in which a lack of access to childcare through public social security institutions or other means prevents productive household members from working, job-seeking or studying (ROP, 2010). By May 2011, the PEI had expanded to benefit 249,282 mothers 4 and had received 265,415 children in 9,255 daycare centers throughout the country 5. This expansion is illustrated in Graph1 below. Final Data Analysis Report| 6 Topics of study Research questions Evidence Results from the literature average. Final Data Analysis Report| 8 Topics of study Research questions Evidence Results from the literature increase of 4.69 points and 4.76 points in mathematics and Spanish test scores respectively. 4) In Uruguay (Berlinski, Galiani, & Manacorda, 2008), it was found that one year of preschool had a positive effect on school attendance ...