03. Journals

3,137 items available

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These are journal articles published in World Bank journals as well as externally by World Bank authors.

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  • Publication
    Public Child Care Provision: Unraveling the Consequences of Implementation Variations for Women’s Time Allocation
    (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2024-02-06) Mata, Catherine
    From analysis of the effects of a national childcare policy on women’s time allocation in Costa Rica, it is found that childcare services are associated with increased female labor force participation, greater educational enrollment, and reduced unpaid care work. However, a comparison of two implementing agencies indicates that the overall effects vary by agency. One agency’s services yield positive outcomes, such as increased labor force participation, reduced unpaid care work, and increased educational attendance; the other agency’s results are less favorable, particularly for part-time childcare users. These findings highlight the challenges governments face when scaling up interventions, as different implementing agencies may modify program criteria, serve distinct populations, and offer varying services. While policies can be effective on a smaller scale, impacts may differ when they are scaled up. Understanding these variations can help governments adapt policies and reallocate resources to achieve their intended goals.
  • Publication
    Public Pre-Primary and Maternal Employment in Algeria: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
    (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2023-08-14) Krafft, Caroline; Lassassi, Moundir
    Globally, employment rates of women remain substantially below those of men. Since women disproportionately care for children, policies that offer care alternatives or lower the cost of care, should, theoretically, increase women’s employment. This paper tests whether public pre-primary education can increase women’s employment, using a natural experiment in Algeria. Education reforms in Algeria substantially expanded public preprimary, targeting children aged five. The paper uses data from 2006 (early in the expansion), 2012, and 2018 (after pre-primary had substantially expanded). The analyses use a discontinuity in whether children are eligible for pre-primary, based on their birthdates, to identify the effect of pre-primary on women’s employment. Increased pre-primary education did not increase and may have actually decreased women’s employment. One potential explanation for these findings is the half-day schedule of pre-primary may be difficult to reconcile with employment. Negative effects are concentrated among women living in nuclear families, who lack alternative caregivers.