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Author: Stafford, Frank P.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Gustafsson, Siv S.
Stafford, Frank P.
Links Between Early Childhood Programs and Maternal Employment in Three Countries
The Future of Children: Long-Term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs 5,3 (Winter 1995).
Also: http://www.futureofchildren.org/pubs-info2825/pubs-info_show.htm?doc_id=77657
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs - Princeton - Brookings
Keyword(s): Child Care; Child Development; Cross-national Analysis; Family Structure; Labor Market Studies, Geographic; Maternal Employment; Occupational Choice; Sweden, Swedish; Taxes

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Early childhood programs are usually viewed as a service that promotes children's development. In addition, these programs often serve a broader purpose of enabling mothers with young children to join the paid labor force. Therefore, government policies relating to the provision and use of child care programs reflect such economic and social factors as the demand for women workers in the labor market; expectations of the relationship among government, family, and the private market; and the value placed on maintaining traditional family structures with a breadwinner, a homemaker, and children. This article examines the evolution of policies toward maternal employment and child care provision in the United States, Sweden, and the Netherlands-three countries that differ sharply in the extent of government involvement in child and family policy, and in the emphasis government leaders place on promoting or discouraging maternal employment. This analysis shows that child care policy is best viewed as but one element among many that make it more or less likely that mothers of young children will be employed and will need to rely on early childhood programs to care for their youngsters. The design of tax codes, labor laws, parental leave policies, and cash assistance programs combines with child care policies to shape women's choices about employment.
Bibliography Citation
Gustafsson, Siv S. and Frank P. Stafford. "Links Between Early Childhood Programs and Maternal Employment in Three Countries." The Future of Children: Long-Term Outcomes of Early Childhood Programs 5,3 (Winter 1995).
2. Gustafsson, Siv S.
Stafford, Frank P.
Three Regimes of Childcare: the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden
In: Social Protection Versus Economic Flexibility: Is There a Tradeoff? R. Blank, ed. Chicago, IL: NBER, University of Chicago Press, 1993.
Also: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/12659.ctl
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Behavior; Child Care; Cross-national Analysis; Labor Force Participation; Manpower Planning; Sweden, Swedish; Welfare; Women

Differences in social protection across countries have received far more attention as national economies have become more interconnected through trade and finance.In this paper we study the nature and functioning of childcare policies in Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States. These three countries, despite being at what might be regarded as similar levels of industrialization, have dramatically different regimes under which families secure childcare to facilitate labor market activity of young women. Perceived economic pressures and wage slowdowns in all three countries will undoubtedly shape the debate on the expansion or reduction of the public policy role in these and other areas of social protection. Our thesis is that to understand both the context and features of these specific programs one needs a broader framework to understand the historical and conceptual origins of the welfare concept in each country. The welfare concept, in turn, shapes the system of social protection and its modification in light of emerging economic forces. The basic descriptive differences in the use of public programs and market and informal arrangements which constitute the childcare subsystem of the larger social welfare system in the three countries are presented. We summarize some of the existing research findings on the use of the systems, and utilizing three separate microdata sets, one for each country, we provide some comparative differences in earnings growth and behavioral responses in terms of labor force participation and price sensitivity. Finally, we offer a summary and some conjectures on possible pressures to modify the systems and ways in which the systems might enhance or inhibit a country's position in the world economy. U.S. data used: Young Women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth as of 1988.
Bibliography Citation
Gustafsson, Siv S. and Frank P. Stafford. "Three Regimes of Childcare: the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden" In: Social Protection Versus Economic Flexibility: Is There a Tradeoff? R. Blank, ed. Chicago, IL: NBER, University of Chicago Press, 1993.