Public Child‐Care Expansion and Changing Gender Ideologies of Parents in Germany

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family Vol. 80; no. 4; pp. 1020 - 1039
• Main Authors: Zoch, Gundula, Schober, Pia S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2018; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Attitudes; Beliefs; Birth; Child care; Children; Children & youth; Comparative Analysis; Counties; Cultural Context; Culture; Early Adolescents; Employment; Employment Patterns; Evidence; Family Income; Family leave; Family policy; Gender; Gender differences; Gender roles; Higher education; Ideology; Individual differences; Labor Force Nonparticipants; Labor market; longitudinal research; Longitudinal Studies; Mothers; Parents; Part Time Employment; Policy making; quantitative methodology; Reforms; Sex Role; Short term; Society; Sociology; Women; Young Children; East Germany; West Germany; Germany
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12486

This study investigates whether the expansion of public child care for children aged younger than 3 years in Germany has been associated with individual‐level change in gender ideologies. The authors develop and test a theoretical framework of the short‐term impact of family policy institutions on ideology change. The analysis links the German Family Panel pairfam (2008 to 2015) with administrative records on county‐level child‐care provision for those aged younger than 3 years and applies fixed effects panel models. The findings show that the child‐care expansion has been associated with moderate changes toward less‐traditional gender ideologies only among mothers in West Germany and mostly among mothers without a college degree. In East Germany, the authors found evidence of more traditional gender ideologies among mothers without a college degree as the child‐care reform unfolded. The results provide evidence that policy reforms may alter gender ideologies also in the short‐term.