The Effects of School Calendar Type on Maternal Employment across Racial Groups: A Story of Child Care Availability

Abstract

This paper presents evidence that school districts' use of an alternative academic calendar, the year-round school calendar, results in a reduction in maternal employment for women with school-aged children that varies in magnitude across racial groups. Negative employment effects are larger in districts with a particularly high proportion white and smaller in districts with a particularly high proportion of minorities. The larger effects in primarily white school districts is not likely to be explained by income differences, yet could potentially be explained by the lower reliance on relatives for child care among whites than minorities.