School starting age and mothers’ labour supply: causal evidence from the 2012 education reform in Turkey
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The 2012 Education Reform has significantly transformed the education system in Turkey in various ways. It extended compulsory schooling to 12 years, replacing a discrete structure across educational levels. As a part of this change, the primary school starting age has been adjusted, allowing up to 60-month-old children to be accepted in primary schools. Prior to this reform, the compulsory schooling starting age was seven years old, corresponding to 72-month-old children. By utilizing this exogenous variation in school starting age following the 2012 Education Reform in Turkey, we investigate the impact of childcare cost on maternal labour supply. The results reveal that the reform did not alter the labour supply behaviour of mothers, even after splitting them based on educational attainment or marital status. The findings for married mothers align with previous literature; however, for single mothers, our results, despite being positive in magnitude, are not statistically significant. JEL Codes: I21, J22
Authors: Gulen Derya Zayim, Aysegul Kayaoglu
Institutions: Istanbul Technical University, University of Bremen
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4403764424