Child Care And Female Labour Supply in the Netherlands

The relationship between childcare and women's labour supply is a policy issue in almost all western industrialized countries. During recent decades women's labour market participation has increased drastically. However women's labour supply still falls short of that of men. And of those women who are active in the labour market many hold - often small - part time jobs. The major explanatory factor brought forward in different studies for women's relatively low labour supply is women's tasks and responsibilities for the care for children. So, childcare is often considered an instrument to reconcile labour market and parental duties, not just for women but also for men. However, childcare can be organized in many different ways. In this book the authors discuss different forms of childcare and their relation to women's labour supply. Under which conditions and to what degree does childcare help mothers to combine a career in the labour market and a career as a parent? Which factors make mothers decide on caring themselves for their young children or opting for some kind of childcare by others? In different circumstances parents may prefer either formal or informal care. Formal care may also be included into labour negotiations. Should employers and unions be responsible for childcare arrangements? Or are the arguments in favour of the equal opportunities point of view that child care should not be limited to workers only, but is just as essential to society as e.g. general education or national defence, and thereby a core task of the government? The answers to these and other related questions enlarge our insights with respect to the question how to organize childcare in such a way thatboth women and men may realize a harmonious reconciliation of labour and care tasks with respect to children.Jonggierveld, Schippers Siegers is the author of 'Child Care And Female Labour Supply in the Netherlands ', published 2003 under ISBN 9789051704389 and ISBN 9051704380.