Child Care, Women's Labour Market Participation and Labour Market Policy Effectiveness in Canada

This article explores the connection between child care, active labour market policies, and women's labour market participation. Through comparative analysis, it demonstrates that the presence of child-care services has positive labour market effects on women's labour market participation. The article also discusses the current status of child-care policies and programs in Canada in light of these observed policy effects. It demonstrates the poor linkages between programs and services for children and labour market policies in Canada. It offers specific suggestions as to how governments and employers could improve the delivery and funding of child-care services to respond to patterns of women's labour market participation