ORI GIN AL PA PER Close to Home: A Simultaneous Equations Model of the Relationship Between Child Care Accessibility and Female Labor Force Participation

Abstract Rising rates of maternal employment among current and former welfare recipients have increased the use of non-parental child care. Little empirical work exam-ines the relationship between women’s labor supply and the geographic supply of child care. We combine census data with child care provider information for the state of Maryland to explore the relationship between female labor supply and the geographic supply of child care. OLS and 3-SLS equations are estimated, and the findings are con-sistent across each estimator: Women’s labor supply is sensitive to the geographic supply of child care and vice versa. These results are important because states now spend sig-nificant money on quality improvement initiatives, many of which increase child care supply in low-income neighborhoods