Targeted or Universal Coverage? Assessing Heterogeneity in the Effects of Universal Childcare

Abstract

We extend earlier research evaluating the Quebec Family Policy by providing the first evidence on the distributional effects of universal child care on two specific developmental outcomes. Our analysis uncovers substantial policy relevant heterogeneity in the estimated effect of access to subsidized child care across two developmental score distributions for children from two-parent families. Whereas past research reported findings of negative effects on mothers and children from these families, igniting controversy, our estimates reveal a more nuanced image that formal child care can indeed boost developmental outcomes for children from some households: particularly disadvantaged single-parent households. In addition, we document significant heterogeneity that differs by child gender. We present suggestive evidence that the heterogeneity in policy effects that emerges across child gender and family type is consistent with differences in the home learning environments generated by parents behaviors that are previously present and are shaped by responses to the policy.Michael J. Kottelenberg 1349 Western Ave.

Childcare Quality and Child Development

“…In sum, Figure 2 and Table 5 suggest that the mean impacts in Table 3 miss important distributional effects, consistent with the results in Havnes and Mogstad (2015) for Norway, and Kottelenberg and Lehrer (2016) for Quebec. In our case, however, these distributional effects are different for our two measures of caregiver quality-the CLASS, and experience.…”

“…There is also evidence of benefits from Head Start, the nationwide program which reaches almost one million lowincome children in the United States. 3 However, child care has also been shown to have negative effects on some children (as in Baker et al 2008, 2015, andKottelenberg and Lehrer 2016, on the effects of subsidized child care in Quebec; and Havnes and Mogstad 2015 on universal child care in Norway). There are a variety of possible explanations for these seemingly contradictory findings, but one is that there are large differences in both the quality of care and the quality of home environments that young children are exposed to.…”

“…For example, Havnes and Mogstad (2015) argue that universal access to child care in Norway benefited children from poor households, but had negative effects on children from better-off families. Kottelenberg and Lehrer (2016) show that the provision of child care services in Quebec had positive effects on child outcomes for the poorest children, but had negative impacts for children between the 10 th and 50 th percentiles of the distribution.…”

Taxing Childcare: Effects on Childcare Choices, Family Labor Supply, and Children

“…Baker et al (2008) also report some negative effects for child development. 5 More recently, Kottelenberg and Lehrer (2017) show that the universal childcare program benefited children from disadvantaged backgrounds.…”

Does Quebec's Subsidized Child Care Policy Give Boys and Girls an Equal Start?

“…18 The remaining child outcomes are collected for those who are at least two years of age and capture dimensions of child behaviour ranging from hyper addressed in Kottelenberg and Lehrer (2013), which showed that negative results persisted using this additional data. The analysis here builds on this set of findings and uses data nearly identical to the data of Kottelenberg and Lehrer (2014) and Haeck et al (2015) and yields efficiency gains.…”