This study used data from the 'Well Being Module' of the 2010 American Time Use Survey (N = 1699) to analyze how parents experience child care time in terms of meaning and stress levels. Multivariate multilevel regressions showed clear differences by gender and the circumstances of child care activities. Mothers experienced child care time as more stressful than fathers, and fathers as slightly...

In this paper, we examine the effects of existing state-level child care regulations on the cost, or price, of non-parental child care, the demand for (non-parental) child care by parents, and the mother’s decision to enter the labor force. We distinguish between the indirect effects of regulations on demand via their effect on the cost of such care facing parents as well and the direct (and no...

Money for Nothing? Universal Child Care and Maternal Employment The strong correlation between child care and maternal employment rates has led previous research to conclude that affordable and readily available child care is a driving force both of cross-country differences in maternal employment and of its rapid growth over the last decades. We analyze the introduction of subsidized, universa...