Why access to quality early childhood education and care is a key driver of women’s labour market participation

Why access to quality early childhood education and care is a key driver of women’s labour market participation

(..) This may seem strange now, but just try to think of society in the 1960s. Just think how far we have come since then: In 1961, only 38 % of women were employed in the United States. In 2015, this figure was at 70%.

(..) Society has progressed a lot in fifty-seven years. Who would have thought in 1961 that someday women would no longer have to make a choice between their career and raising a family? Stronger access and provision to early childhood education and care services has greatly contributed to more equity in the workforce, but more is needed to ensure fully equal participation of men and women, whether at work or at home. Hopefully we will not have to wait another half century to see that happen. 

How does access to early childhood services affect the participation of women in the labour market? EDUCATIONINDICATORSIN FOCUSFEBRUARY 2018#59

The number of hours per week children can attend early childhood education and care services greatly influences whether women work full or part time: 

Countries with both high levels of participation in ECEC and greater intensity of participation (in hours per week) are in general those in which most mothers work full time. These include all the Nordic countries except Finland, and France, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Portugal. By contrast, in the Netherlands and New Zealand, an above-average proportion of children under the age of 3 attend ECEC, but for fewer hours per week. As a consequence, more than 40% of women with at least one child aged 0-14 are employed part time in these two countries.

Children from poor families still face barriers to accessing early childhood education and care services and their mothers to entering the labour market:

The bottom line 

While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging women full time in the labour market. While ECEC has experienced a surge of policy attention over the last decades, wide variations still exist across countries and its costs remains a barrier to accessing paid work for poor families and lone parents, mostly mothers. More efforts are needed to increase the provision and accessibility of free ECEC services, especially for children under the age of 3.