Insight • Data • Economics • Analysis
Role of Child Care Costs in Employment Decisions by Gender
When asked about how the cost of child care impacted their jobs or careers, women (51%) were much more likely than men (34%) to agree that cost was a consideration for their jobs or careers.
When asked about how the cost of child care impacted their job or career, twice as many women (42%) than men (20%) reported they have, at some point, cut back on hours or quit a job because of the cost of child care.
Something interesting happened when we asked respondents to estimate the cost of their partner’s job or career. Women’s assessment of the impact of childcare cost on their spouse, partner, or co-parent was no different than how men answered for themselves. Twenty-one percent of women cited cost as a reason their co-parent cut back or quit, and 20 percent of men said the same for themselves.
Comparatively, 28 percent of men reported that their spouse, partner, or co-parent cut back on hours or quit a job because of the cost of childcare, which was significantly lower than the 42 percent of women who reported that as a reason for doing the same.
