SINGLE MOTHERS WORKING AT NIGHT: STANDARD WORK AND CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES

This article examines the effect of child care subsidies on the standard work decision of single mothers. Results suggest that child care subsidy receipt is associated with about a 7 percentage point increase in the probability of working at a standard job. When the effect of subsidy receipt is allowed to differ between welfare recipients and nonrecipients, results indicate that subsidy receipt has a large and positive effect among welfare recipients, whereas the effect on nonrecipients is much smaller. These findings underscore the importance of child care subsidies in helping low‐income parents, especially welfare recipients, gain standard employment. ( JEL J13, I38)