2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Effects of Childcare Policy on Mothers and Children

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	16K21743
Research Category	Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Home-Returning Researcher Development Research)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Public finance/Public economy
Research Institution	The University of Tokyo
Principal Investigator	YAMAGUCHI Shintaro 東京大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 教授 (20793946)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	ANDO Michihito 立教大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (10749162) KAMBAYASHI Ryo 一橋大学, 経済研究所, 教授 (40326004) MORI Hiroaki 専修大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (40778247) KAWAGUCHI Daiji 東京大学, 大学院経済学研究科, 教授 (80346139)
Project Period (FY)	2017 – 2019
Keywords	保育 / 女性就業 / 幼児教育 / 攻撃性 / 多動性 / 言語発達
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We estimate the marginal treatment effect of childcare use on mothers' labor market outcomes by using a staggered expansion of childcare services across regions in Japan. Estimates show that the heterogeneous treatment effects are negatively associated with the propensity to use childcare, which implies that mothers who increase their labor supply the least when subjected to the treatment are those mothers with the highest underlying tendency to use childcare. Because of the childcare rationing rules, the slots tend to go to mothers who have the strongest labor force attachment. In another paper we estimate the effects of childcare enrollment on child outcomes and find that childcare improves language development and reduces the symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and aggression among children of low-education mothers. We also examined parental outcomes. Estimates indicate that childcare use improves parenting quality and subjective well-being and reduces stress among those mothers. Our estimates for marginal treatment effects indicate that children who would benefit most from childcare are less likely to attend, implying inefficient allocation.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究により、保育所利用は母親の就業促進と同時に子どもの発達にも有益な影響があると示された。子どもへの好ましい影響は特に社会経済的地位が低い家庭で見られ、この層への援助は費用対効果が高いと示唆した。一方で、こうした家庭が必ずしも認可保育所にアクセスできておらず、保育所割当の制度に一端があると明らかになった。また、ある地方自治体の協力の下で認可保育所への入所申請世帯に対する全数調査を実施、入所申請の実態の検証や入所・留保世帯の比較分析を行った結果、母親の就業のみならず精神的負担感、父親の家事・育児分担に差が見られた。今後はこの結果を更に分析し、保育所利用の若い家族への影響を明らかにしていきたい。
Free Research Field	財政