Childcare Strategies of Divorced Mothers in Europe: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

In this contribution, we focus on the influence of employment-supportive policies on the childcare strategies of a specific subgroup of mothers, namely, divorced mothers. As previous research has shown, the economic consequences of divorce are mitigated by the provision of formal childcare, allowing divorced mothers to combine work and care and thus achieve a decent level of economic well-being. Our main hypotheses deal with the interplay between formal and informal childcare systems. While the crowding-out hypothesis states that formal childcare provision relaxes the functions that used to be provided by informal networks, the crowding-in thesis postulates that mothers use a mixture of strategies in search of an optimal combination between formal and informal childcare. Using longitudinal data from the ECHP for 13 countries, we evaluate the influence of a variety of macro-level indicators referring to the formal and informal care provision on the use of different types of childcare after divorce. Our empirical evidence points at the existence of a crowding-in effect, be it in a specific way. We find that while the use of both formal and informal childcare is mainly driven by the available formal arrangements, social networks fulfil an important complementary role, enabling divorced mothers to increase their use of formal childcare. More specifically, we find that in countries with limited formal childcare provision, extended informal support results in an increased use of formal childcare. In welfare states with ample formal childcare, divorced women need less help from informal caregivers, although the latter are still essential for mothers in order to synchronize work and formal childcare.