Universal Child Care Research Articles

How policies created without early childhood educator input create toxic working environments that objectify educators

Through the lens of objectification and toxic workplace theory, this article critically examines Ontario, Canada's policies and regulations on early childhood education and care (ECEC). In the context of Canada's transition to universal child care and the persistent workforce crisis in the ECEC sector, this article highlights how registered early childhood educators (RECE) workplace challenges, including poor working conditions, low wages, and a lack of professional recognition, are theorized within objectification and toxic workplace theory. Specifically, the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) and the Ontario Early Year Framework, which establish the standards and regulations for licensed childcare providers, are analyzed to determine how they objectify RECEs and create toxic workplaces. Grounded in advocacy to improve working conditions in ECEC, this article provides a unique framework for understanding and interrupting how RECEs are not considered in creating government regulations, how individual centers and organizations can interpret the current rules to continue to devalue the contributions of RECEs to the sector, and how and why this continuation of devaluation is affecting the well-being and working conditions of RECEs.

Preschool and child health: Evidence from China's universal child care reform

Early childhood education programs have been found to effectively promote children's social and cognitive development. However, the health impact of these programs is less understood. Using a quasi-experiment of the first universal child care reform in China from 2010, this paper aims to identify whether the preschool reform produces any short-term effects on health-related outcomes of preschoolers (3-6 years old). Specifically, this reform expands access to affordable preschools that provide full-day center-based education, with school meals and essential health services on campus. I exploit the variation in the number of newly established preschools across provinces and implement difference-in-differences and triple-difference strategies. Results confirm the effectiveness of this reform by showing a strong and positive impact on preschool attendance. This paper then documents the benefits to alleviating underweight among preschoolers. Estimates show a larger effect in rural areas, suggesting that the reform narrows rural-urban disparities in education access and undernutrition prevention. I also explore the impact on caregivers’ health consciousness and find improved health-seeking behavior when children get sick.

The effects of a universal income transfer on food insecurity within households

Abstract Using the public-use files of the Canadian Community Health Survey and a difference-in-differences methodology, we estimate the impact of a universal income transfer (the Universal Child Care Benefit) on food insecurity, separately for adults and children within households. The income transfer reduced the risk of overall food insecurity by 20% at the child level, and the effect was larger in households with lower education or income. The transfer also reduced the likelihood of moderate/severe food insecurity among adults in single-parent families, as well as adults and children in households with secondary education or less. These findings withstand several robustness checks.

Is longer maternal care always beneficial? The impact of a 4-year paid parental leave

We study the impact of an extension of paid family leave in the Czech Republic from 3 to 4 years on children’s long-term outcomes. We find that an additional year of maternal care at age 3 has an adverse effect on children’s human capital investments and labor market attachment. Affected children are 6 percentage points less likely to be enrolled in college and 4 percentage points more likely to be not in education, employment, or training (NEET) at age 21–22. While the negative impact on education is persistent, with an 8 percentage points lower probability of completing college by the age of 27, the effect on NEET is short-lived. The results are driven by children of low-educated mothers, whose education and NEET outcomes are affected by as much as 12 percentage points. Our findings are consistent with previously documented positive effects of universal childcare on child long-term outcomes and with the fact that the extended maternal care induced by the extension of family leave led to a postponement of public kindergarten enrollment.

The impact of parental benefits on disadvantaged households

AbstractOver the past 25 years, the Government of Quebec (Canada) has introduced a number of relatively novel policies aimed at fighting poverty such as the Universal Child Care Program (UCCP) in 1997 and the Quebec Parental Insurance Program (QPIP) in 2006. Since its inception, the QPIP has provided a means‐tested supplementary benefits scheme for disadvantaged households. The scheme yields a well‐defined kink in the benefits schedule with respect to two entirely exogenous criteria. Using the QPIP administrative data files from 2006 to 2017, we estimate the causal impact of the supplemental benefits on leave duration and participation of poor households within a sharp Regression Kink Design (RKD) approach. Our results indicate that single mothers are relatively responsive to additional benefits. Conversely, partnered mothers are not found to respond to the supplemental benefits, irrespective of fathers’ own participation in the parental leave. The Canadian government is currently considering introducing a similar parental leave program. Our results may prove useful for the design of the program.

Caring Dads? Universal Childcare, Paternity Leave and Fathers' Involvement

Caring Dads? Universal Childcare, Paternity Leave and Fathers' Involvement

Research on the high-quality development of universal childcare services under the background of aging and declining birthrate

Research on the high-quality development of universal childcare services under the background of aging and declining birthrate

The rising influence of family background on early school performance

We use administrative data from Norway to examine recent trends in the association between parents’ prime age earnings rank and offspring's educational performance rank by age 15/16. We show that the intergenerational correlation between these two ranks has increased over the past decades, and that offspring from economically disadvantaged families have fallen behind. This has happened despite public policies contributing to leveling the playing field. We show that the expansion of universal childcare and, more recently, the increased teacher-pupil ratio in compulsory school, have disproportionally benefited lower class offspring. The rising influence of parents’ earnings rank can partly be explained by a strengthened intragenerational association between earnings rank and education among parents, as educational achievement has an inheritable component. Yet a considerable unexplained rise in the influence of family background remains, consistent with evidence pointing toward increased parental involvement in children's lives, plausibly in response to higher returns to education.

Effect of universal child care subsidy on child-rearing costs by mothers’ working status in South Korea

This study aims to investigate the effects of universal child care and early education subsidy on child-rearing cost burdens, and examine the extent to which this association differs depending on mothers’ working status in South Korea. Using the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) and a fixed effects panel model, we found that child care and early education subsidy usage is associated with a reduction of total child-rearing costs, but not much out-of-pocket child care expenses. Furthermore, the introduction of universal child care and early education subsidy is likely to benefit households with part-time working mothers in terms of reducing total child-rearing cost burden, but it increased out-of-pocket child care cost in households where mothers were not working. The child care and early education subsidy achieved the aim of reducing household financial burden associated with parenthood, and enabling parents to combine their paid work with parenthood—in particular for mothers with part-time jobs. However, full-time working mothers are limited in enjoying the benefits of the subsidy. Our findings regarding South Korea’s child care and early education system provide important insights for emerging and developing economies that are increasingly showing an interest in instituting new child care and early education systems.

Effects of Child Tax Benefits on Poverty and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Canada Child Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit

We investigate whether child tax benefits reduce child poverty and labor force participation among single mothers within the context of the 2015 expansion of the Canadian Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) and the 2016 introduction of the Canada Child Benefit (CCB). We compare single mothers to single childless women as single mothers have historically had the highest poverty rates. Our analysis indicates that both reforms reduced child poverty, although the Canada Child Benefit had the greater effect. We find no evidence of a labor supply response to either of the program reforms on either the extensive or intensive margins.

Competition and childcare quality: Evidence from Quebec

Abstract Since 1997, the Canadian province of Quebec has put in place a heavily subsidized universal childcare program for all children under the school age. The present paper examines how the level of competition among individual providers associates with the quality of childcare in Quebec. The quality of childcare is measured by the number of violations and penalties recorded in the inspections conducted by the Quebec Ministry of Family Affairs. The analysis indicates that the intensity of parental competition for daycare spots, as opposed to childcare centres’ competition to attract parents, negatively associates with the quality of childcare. Critically, this association is mainly driven by less affluent neighbourhoods. In addition, these associations are found to be stronger for more serious violations. The policy implications for both childcare quality and childcare equality are discussed.

How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy of Oppression?: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Ontario’s Early Years Pedagogical Framework

As Canada begins to establish universal childcare, the market-based neoliberalism of the early learning and care system continues to undervalue, underpay, overwork, and overpolice early childhood educators (ECEs). Ontario’s resource How Does Learning Happen? (HDLH) has been celebrated for its sociocultural stance and identified as transformative and central to the modernization of Ontario’s childcare system. Critical discourse analysis reveals how HDLH and the Ontario Ministry of Education continue to oppress ECEs. The implementation of universal childcare provides an opportunity for the government to include ECEs to make real changes in working conditions, wages, and the provision of quality childcare.

The US Council of Economic Advisers on Changing Female Labor Force Participation

Population and Development ReviewEarly View DOCUMENTS The US Council of Economic Advisers on Changing Female Labor Force Participation First published: 13 June 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12562Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL References Abraham, K., and M. Kearney. 2020. “Examining the Decline in the U.S. Employment-to-Population Ratio: A Review of the Evidence.” Journal of Economic Literature 58(3): 585– 643. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20191480 Baker, M., J. Gruber, and K. Milligan. 2008. “Universal Child Care, Maternal Labor Supply, and Family Well-Being.” Journal of Political Economy 116(4): 709– 745. https://doi.org/10.1086/591908 Black, S., D. Schanzenbach, and A. Breitwieser. 2017. “ The Recent Decline in Women's Labor Force Participation.” Hamilton Project. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/es_10192017_decline_womens_labor_force_participation_blackschanzenbach.pdf. Blau, F., and L. Kahn. 2013. “Female Labor Supply: Why Is the United States Falling Behind?” American Economic Review 103(3): 251– 256. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.3.251 BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2019. “ Number and Percent of Eldercare Providers Who Were Parents of Household Children Under Age 18 by Sex and Selected Characteristics, Averages for the Combined Years 2017–2018.” https://www.bls.gov/news.release/elcare.t09.htm. BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). 2022. “ Employee Benefits in the United States.” https://www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/benefits/2022/home.him. Council of Economic Advisers. 2015. Economic Report of the President. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2015-ERP.pdf. Gelbach, J. 2002. “Public Schooling for Young Children and Maternal Labor Supply.” American Economic Review 92(1): 307– 322. https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828.02760015748 Goldin, C. 2006. “The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women's Employment, Education, and Family.” AEA Papers and Proceedings, 1– 21, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/the_quiet_revolution_that_transformed_womens_employment_education_and_family.pdf. Haeck, C., P. Lefebvre, and P. Merrigan. 2015. “Canadian Evidence on Ten Years of Universal Preschool Policies: The Good and the Bad.” Labour Economics, 36: 137– 157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2015.05.002 Maiello, M. 2017. “ Diagnosing William Baumol's Cost Disease.” Chicago Booth Review. https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/diagnosing-william-baumolscost-disease. Morrissey, T. 2017. “Child Care and Parent Labor Force Participation: A Review of the Research Literature.” Review of Economics of the Household 15(1): 1– 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-016-9331-3. National Partnership for Women and Families. 2022. “ State Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Laws.” https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/paid-leave/state-paid-family-leave-laws.pdf. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2019. “ Public Spending on Childcare and Early Education.” OECD Family Database. https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/PF3_1_Public_spending_on_childcare_and_early_education.pdf. OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2022. “ LFS by Sex and Age: Indicators.” https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?r=967539#. Shen, K. 2021. “ Who Benefits from Public Financing of Home Care for Low-Income Seniors?” Working paper, Harvard University. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/kshen/files/caregivers.pdf. Siminski, P., and R. Yetsenga. 2022. “Specialization, Comparative Advantage, and the Sexual Division of Labor.” Journal of Labor Economics 40(4): https://doi.org/10.1086/718430. Ziliak, J. 2014. “ Supporting Low-Income Workers through Refundable Child-Care Credits.” Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/research/supporting-low-income-workers-through-refundable-child-care-credits/. Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue ReferencesRelatedInformation

The Future of Public Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities.

Policy Points Social policies such as policies advancing universal childcare to expand Medicaid coverage of home- and community-based care for seniors and people with disabilities and for universal preschool are the types of policies needed to address social determinants of poor mental health. Population-based global budgeting approaches like accountable care and total cost of care models have the potential to improve population mental health by incentivizing health systems to control costs while simultaneously improving outcomes for the populations they serve. Policies expanding reimbursement for services delivered by peer support specialists are needed. People with lived experience of mental illness are uniquely well suited to helping their peers navigate treatment and other support services.

Feeding Utopia

“Household food insecurity refers to the inadequate or insecure access to food because of financial constraints” (Tarasuk & Mitchell, 2020). More than 4 million Canadians are affected by food insecurity (McIntyre, et al., 2016; Tarasuk & Mitchell, 2020). Social factors such as income, are more significant determinants of food security and health than lifestyle choices (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). A Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a financial allowance granted to all working age citizens which ensures that there is a minimum income level, regardless of current or previous employment status (Forget, 2018). The available UBI research and similar programs such as the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB) and Old Age Security (OAS) have been shown to reduce food insecurity (McIntyre, et al., 2016, Brown & Tarasuk, 2019). This paper investigates how a Canadian Universal Basic Income could impact food insecurity by acting on the most influential determinant of health: income.

Reproductive Rights at the Bargaining Table

Reproductive Rights at the Bargaining Table Maggie Carter (bio), Dee Dunn (bio), Rebecca Kolins Givan (bio), Rebekah Nelson (bio), Sara Nelson (bio), and Martha Valadez (bio) The following conversation on labor's response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization took place on October 19, 2022. The panel was organized by the Labor Campaign for Single Payer. The transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Click for larger view View full resolution Rebecca Kolins Givan: Abortion is healthcare, and healthcare is a workers' issue. What do you do when your employer controls healthcare access? Conversations about the despicable state of access to abortion and other reproductive care have to lead us to bigger conversations about the inherent flaws in our healthcare system, and what we must do as workers and as a labor movement about that. Sara Nelson: The rollback of abortion rights is not just a healthcare issue. It's not just a choice issue. It's fundamentally an issue of freedom, humanity, and dignity. What can we do to help maintain reproductive rights at the bargaining table? We have to understand that taking away a woman's right to access healthcare, a woman's right to make her own decisions in her life, is taking half of the population off the table. And it allows the boss to divide people along lines that weaken the working class and make it harder for people to organize. In my union, the flight attendants I represent may take off in one state with one set of rights and land in another state with another set of rights. [End Page 39] They're in danger every single day that someone could deny them the right to basic healthcare, to save their lives, to make their own decisions. When I first started doing union work, I had the honor of interviewing the number-one flight attendant at United Airlines. She flew for almost sixty years. She flew all over the world in the 1950s and talked with aircraft manufacturers, governments, and civil aviation bodies, to get evacuation standards and safety equipment onto planes. She had an amazing life, but what she really wanted to talk to me about was something that I had never experienced because I was born in 1973. She wanted to tell me about what it was like when women had to have illegal abortions in order to keep their jobs as flight attendants or to get out of abusive relationships. She would have to help them do that. Though she did not believe in abortion herself, she understood her duty to represent these women and get them to safety. So we can't just talk about this as another issue on the ballot. We have to understand that this is an attack on our very right to organize, an attack on our ability to build power for the working class, an attack on our ability to put a check on the unchecked capitalism that is controlling our politics and sending us on the road to fascism. It is fundamental that we fight with everything that we have for the rights of women to make their own decisions in their own lives. Click for larger view View full resolution Dee Dunn: I'm a member of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, the women and men who build and maintain America's railroads. The United Passenger Rail Federation Women's Caucus has gone on record as being 100 percent pro-choice. Even though some of us have beliefs in our personal lives that will prevent us from getting an abortion under most circumstances, we believe that reproductive healthcare decisions, like all healthcare decisions, should be made between patients and their doctors without interference from the government or any other outside force. The fight for the right to abortion is part of a greater fight for reproductive and healthcare justice, which also includes the fight for singlepayer healthcare, universal child care, a living wage, and affordable housing. All of these factors influence the ability of a working woman to raise a child [End Page 40] or to decide not to go ahead with a pregnancy because the child...

Kindergarten for All: Long Run Effects of a Universal Intervention

Theory and evidence points towards particularly positive effects of high-quality child care for disadvantaged children. At the same time, disadvantaged families often sort out of existing programs. To counter differences in learning outcomes between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, European governments are pushing for universal child care. However, empirical evidence on the effects of universal programs is scarce. We provide evidence on the long-run effect on schooling of mandating kindergarten at age 5--6. Our identifying variation comes from a reform that lowered school starting-age from 7 to 6 in Norway in 1997. Our precise DD estimates reveal hardly any effect, both overall, across subsamples, and over the grading distribution. A battery of specification checks supports our empirical strategy.

Research on Universal Childcare System for Children Aged 0-3 Years in Gansu Province

Research on Universal Childcare System for Children Aged 0-3 Years in Gansu Province

“With Fear in Our Bellies”: A Pan-Canadian Conversation With Early Childhood Educators

The highly gendered, classed, and racialized early childhood education and care (ECEC) workforce in Canada labours under exploitative conditions: low status and pay and lack of recognition. Early childhood educators have recently faced two additional contextual shifts that further complicate their daily work and practice: the COVID-19 pandemic and the Federal announcement of funding for a national universal childcare system. This paper is the result of a broader study that set out to uncover the innovative changes and practices in ECEC policy, practice, and pedagogy enacted across provincial/territorial boundaries in diverse communities across Canada with the hope of contributing to the ongoing conversation informing the development of a new system of ECEC in Canada. Qualitative data for this paper were derived from solicited photo collages and a video-taped webinar conversation with early childhood educators, responding to the following question: “What does it mean to be an early childhood educator at this moment?” Viewed through a critical lens, the findings elucidated four intersecting narratives: loss, sacrifice, adaptation, and hope. This paper contributes to ongoing discussions about the fluid and contextual nature of professionalism within ECEC. As we attempt to mobilize for transformative change and social action in the development of a competent ECEC system in Canada, it is imperative to provide space for the lived experiences, critical insights, and interwoven story lines offered by educators and children. Keywords: early childhood education, early childhood educators, professionalism, care, COVID-19

The effects of a large-scale school readiness intervention on Danish preschool children’s emergent mathematics skills

ABSTRACT Children’s emergent mathematics skills are important predictors of their later achievements. We analyze and present the effects of a large-scale school readiness intervention in preschools in Denmark. We thereby provide evidence on the effects of a broadly based professional development program (with supporting materials) implemented in a universal childcare system. Estimates of the effects were obtained from a cluster-randomized controlled trial on a large sample of more than 5000 children. The children’s emergent mathematics skills were assessed using a formal validated test (Tools for Early Assessment in Math) before and after the intervention. The results showed that the intervention on average had significantly positive effects for the participating children. Only children of non-Western origin benefitted more than other children from the intervention. In addition, the effects were moderated by exposure and by child-staff-ratio; stronger effects were associated with higher exposure and with lower child-staff-ratio.