Investing in Mothers? The Long-Run Impact of a Universal Child Care
A new working paper analyzes the long-term economic impact of Quebec's universal child care program on mothers. It finds that subsidized child care leads to sustained increases in maternal labor force participation, higher lifetime earnings, and improved fiscal outcomes for the state.
Why it matters
The study provides empirical evidence that public investment in child care can pay for itself through increased tax revenue and reduced social assistance spending over the long term.
LinkedIn Facebook Bluesky Threads Email Link Working Paper 35514 DOI 10.3386/w35514 Issue Date July 2026 We provide new estimates of the effects of universal child care on the long-term labor outcomes of mothers, documenting the life-cycle impact of Quebec’s universal, subsidized child care program on maternal labor supply, earnings, social program benefit receipt and tax remittances. We find an enduring positive impact on mothers’ employment long after children have aged out of the preschool years. There is also a long-run impact on earnings which grows to be twice as large as the participation effect. This arises because of growth in the intensity of labor force participation and a rise in hourly wages over time, suggesting that initial investments in work have multiplier effects later in women’s careers.
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