81498
                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



 The Impact of Access to Free Childcare on Women's Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence
       from a Randomized Trial in Low-income Neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro
      Author(s)            Ricardo Paes de Barros, Pedro Olinto, Trine Lunde, Mirela Caralho
      Contact              polinto@worldbank.org

      Country              Brazil

 Organizing Theme          Economic Opportunities and Access to Assets

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Preschool

       Sector              Children & Youth
                           The impact evaluation of Rio de Janeiro's public day-care program aims to answer the
                           following three questions. First, how large is the increase in labor force participation of
                           mothers due to the increased access to free child care? Second, what does the increase in
                           labor force participation, if any, suggest about the net cost of the policy (subsidies offered
                           minus new tax revenue collected)? Fourth, does public provision crowd out private
                           provision? Finally, what effect does any change in child care (and associated increases in
                           labor force participation) have on child and family outcomes? GAP funds contributed
                           toward an additional job seeking skills training intervention implemented in half of the
                           sample. The authors find that access to free publicly provided child care services led to a
      Abstract             very large increase in the use of care, a considerable increase in mothers’ employment
                           (from 36 to 46 percent), and a almost doubling in the employment of mothers who were
                           not working before the lottery took place. The authors find no statistically significant
                           impact on hours worked for mothers who were employed, however. This rise in mothers’
                           employment is associated with a modest increase in household incomes of 16 percent
                           (from an average of R$569 to R$661 per month). Finally, the authors also find robust
                           evidence that the public provision of free child care crowds out private provision, even in
                           low income neighborhoods. Therefore, given that the estimated income impacts are
                           smaller than the cost of public provision, direct transfers via vouchers for child care may be
                           more cost effective than subsidized care via public provision.
 Gender Connection         Gender Focused Intervention

 Gender Outcomes           Women's labor force participation
                           The program was intended to be randomly assigned. However, since assignment was not
     IE Design             perfectly random, the authors used Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to estimate the
                           Local Average Treatment Effect.
                           The Rio de Janeiro Early Childhood Development Program provided center-based
    Intervention           interventions including full time daycare, health services, food and instructional toys to
                           children aged 0-3 in low income neighborhoods.
 Intervention Period       The lottery for selection into ECD was carried out in 2007
                           Each year, approximately 25,000 families apply for 10,000 slots at Rio center-based daycare.
 Sample population
                           10,000 children are randomly selected to be enrolled.


   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                       1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


Comparison conditions       Control (standard treatment)

    Unit of analysis        Individual Level

   Evaluation Period        The survey was carried out between June and October 2008
                            The program has large effects for female economic opportunities. For treated mothers,
                            employment increases by 27%, labor force participation increases by 8% and maternal
                            unemployment drops by 16%. For women who did not work in the 6 months prior to the
        Results             program, employment increases by 97% from 9 % to 17%. There was strong evidence of
                            crowding out of private childcare as no lottery winners enrolled their child in private
                            healthcare. The treated families experienced an average increase of incomes of R$92, but
                            this is less than the R$250 cost of the program.
Primary study limitations

    Funding Source          Gender Action Plan
                            de Barros, R. P., Olinto, P., Lunde, T., & Carvalho, M. (2011). The Impact of Access to
      Reference(s)          Free Childcare on Women's Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Trial
                            in Low-income Neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.
    Link to Studies         http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DEC/Resources/84797-1104597464088/598413-
                            1302096012728/Pedro-Olinto_access_to_free_childcare.pdf
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                    2