Employment implications of child-care access in New England, pre- and post-COVID-19 
Challenges accessing high-quality child care lead some parents to forego licensed care, use suboptimal care arrangements, or leave the labor market altogether. This brief explores labor market implications of child-care access challenges using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Parent Demand Survey. The sample includes nearly 2,100 New England mothers with at least one child under the age of 6 between February 2022 and April 2022. I look at employment patterns at three points in time—before the COVID-19 pandemic, at the time of the survey in early 2022, and three months later (by asking about expectations) and whether and how these patterns vary by access challenges. The data reveal that child-care users had higher employment levels and worked more hours than those who needed care but did not use it. This finding also held when comparing child-care users who used the amount of care they needed to child-care users who used less care than needed because they had trouble accessing it. These findings help us understand the employment implications of child-care gaps, defined as not having access to needed care or not having the amount of care needed.
Key Findings
- The employment rates of mothers who reported using child care from someone other than a parent averaged 23.6 percentage points higher than for mothers who forewent needed care.
- Mothers who used care but reported using less care than needed at the time of the survey were 10.1 percentage points less likely to be employed than mothers who used the amount of care needed.
- At the time of the survey, mothers who forewent needed care worked an average of 4.1 fewer hours per week than mothers who used care. At all three reference points, on average, they were 18.1 percentage points less likely to work full-time than mothers who used care.
- Mothers who used care but used less care than needed at the time of the survey worked an average of just 0.3 fewer hours per week than mothers who used the amount needed, but this varied by marital status.
- Mothers who were never married or living apart from a spouse worked 3.7 fewer hours per week—the largest difference across demographics.
- Mothers who used less care than needed due to “location” were the least likely to report working full-time and most likely to report working part-time.