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The success of universal preschool education depends crucially
on the policy parameters and specific country context
Since the 1970s, many countries have established free or highly
subsidized education for all preschool children in the hope of improving children’s learning
and socio-economic life chances and encouraging mothers to join the labor force. Evaluations
reveal that these policies can increase maternal employment in the short term and may continue
to do so even after the child is no longer in preschool by enabling mothers to gain more job
skills and increase their attachment to the labor force. However, their effectiveness depends
on the policy design, the country context, and the characteristics of mothers of
preschoolers.
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A range of other policies and changes are needed
for childcare expansion to increase mothers’ labor supply
In 2002, the EU set targets for expanding
childcare coverage, but most of the post-socialist countries are behind
schedule. While childcare expansion places a heavy financial burden on
governments, low participation in the labor force by mothers, especially
those with children under the age of three, implies a high potential impact.
However, the effectiveness of childcare expansion may be limited by some
common characteristics of these countries: family policies that do not
support women’s labor market re-entry, few flexible work opportunities, and
cultural norms about family and gender roles shaped by the institutional and
economic legacy of socialism.
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Individual and environmental factors can lead
women to start innovative market-expanding and export-oriented ventures—or
block them
Female-led ventures that are market-expanding,
export-oriented, and innovative contribute substantially to local and
national economic development, as well as to the female entrepreneur’s
economic welfare. Female-led ventures also serve as models that can
encourage other high-potential female entrepreneurs. The supply of
high-potential entrepreneurial ventures is driven by individuals’
entrepreneurial attitudes and institutional factors associated with a
country’s conditions for entrepreneurial expansion. A systematic assessment
of those factors can show policymakers the strengths and weaknesses of the
environment for high-potential female entrepreneurship.
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A mix of policies could be the solution to
reducing discrimination in the labor market
Discrimination is a complex, multi-factor
phenomenon. Evidence shows widespread discrimination on various grounds,
including ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or
beliefs, disability, being over 55 years old, or being a woman. Combating
discrimination requires combining the strengths of a range of
anti-discrimination policies while also addressing their weaknesses. In
particular, policymakers should thoroughly address prejudice (taste-based
discrimination), stereotypes (statistical discrimination), cognitive biases,
and attention-based discrimination.
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Subsidized childcare fosters maternal
employment, but employment status, childcare quality, and availability
matter
Women’s labor force participation has rapidly
increased in most countries, but mothers still struggle to achieve a
satisfactory work−life balance. Childcare allows the primary caregiver,
usually the mother, to take time away from childrearing for employment.
Family policies that subsidize childcare and increase its availability have
different effects on female labor supply across countries. For policymakers
to determine how well these policies work, they should consider that policy
effectiveness may depend on country-specific pre-reform female employment
and earnings, and childcare availability, costs, and quality.
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Hot weather can worsen reproductive health and decrease later
birth rates
Research finds that hot weather causes a fall in birth rates
nine months later. Evidence suggests that this decline in births is due to hot weather harming
reproductive health around the time of conception. Birth rates only partially rebound after
the initial decline. Moreover, the rebound shifts births toward summer months, harming infant
health by increasing third trimester exposure to hot weather. Worse infant health raises
health care costs in the short term as well as reducing labor productivity in the longer term,
possibly due to lasting physiological harm from the early life injury.
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Despite major efforts at equal pay legislation,
gender pay inequality still exists—how can this be put right?
Despite equal pay legislation dating back 50
years, American women still earn 18% less than their male counterparts. In
the UK, with its Equal Pay Act of 1970, and France, which legislated in
1972, the gap is 17% and 10% respectively, and in Australia it remains
around 14%. Interestingly, the gender pay gap is relatively small for the
young but increases as men and women grow older. Similarly, it is large when
comparing married men and women, but smaller for singles. Just what can
explain these wage patterns? And what can governments do to speed up wage
convergence to close the gender pay gap? Clearly, the gender pay gap
continues to be an important policy issue.
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The relationship is more complex than one may
think
The negative correlation between women’s
education and fertility is strongly observed across regions and time;
however, its interpretation is unclear. Women’s education level could affect
fertility through its impact on women’s health and their physical capacity
to give birth, children’s health, the number of children desired, and
women’s ability to control birth and knowledge of different birth control
methods. Each of these mechanisms depends on the individual, institutional,
and country circumstances experienced. Their relative importance may change
along a country’s economic development process.
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An unequal distribution of resources within the
family is a special concern for female poverty
Transition to a market economy is accompanied by
a period of greater economic uncertainty. Women are likely to suffer
substantial disadvantages from this uncertainty compared to men as they are,
for example, more likely to lose their job. This not only implies a monetary
loss for the entire family, but also degrades female bargaining power within
the household, possibly further aggravating their well-being. When
intrahousehold inequality—an unequal distribution of resources among family
members—exists, female poverty might be significantly larger than what can
be deduced using standard household-based poverty measures.
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