The impacts of subsidized nursery access and employment services on mother employment in Egypt

We plan to study the impacts of subsidized access to nursery, employment services, and their combination on mother employment, in the context of a country with very low female labor force participation and conservative gender role norms. We will study impacts on both mothers and children. We are particularly interested to investigate whether subsidies can foster mother’s employment, especially among the poorest mothers, and whether the impact of childcare subsidies can be magnified by offering employment services. We will also test whether the intervention has positive impacts on the cognitive development of the children of treated mothers.