Childcare Costs and Timing of Maternal Employment Decisions after Childbirth

Master thesis is aimed to estimate the effect of childcare costs on the timing of maternal employment decisions after the childbirth. Multinomial logistic analysis proved that childcare costs significantly related to the employment decisions of mothers with children under the age of four. Higher childcare costs make mothers to postpone the return to the labor market, and mothers with children under the age of three are less likely to start to work compared to the mother who started to work when their child reached the age of three. Women with children 0-17 months old are most sensitive to the majority of determinants of maternal employment decision, including childcare costs, wage, availability of public childcare, access to part-time work opportunities, family structure and income. The magnitude of the influence of the factors listed determined by the social and family policy regime in Russia. The results of the analysis could become a rationale for family and social policy changes in Russia.