AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Males Should Mail? Gender Discrimination in Access to Childcare
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113,
May 2023
(pp. 427–31)
Abstract
This study investigates discrimination against women when searching and applying for childcare in a nationwide field experiment. We send emails from fictitious parents to 9,313 childcare centers in Germany inquiring about access to childcare. We randomize whether the email is sent by the child's mother or father. Our results show that women receive shorter and less positive responses than men. The probability of receiving a response does not differ by gender, highlighting the importance of going beyond response rates to detect discrimination. We provide suggestive evidence that regional differences in gender discrimination are related to gender norms.Citation
Hermes, Henning, Philipp Lergetporer, Fabian Mierisch, Frauke Peter, and Simon Wiederhold. 2023. "Males Should Mail? Gender Discrimination in Access to Childcare." AEA Papers and Proceedings 113: 427–31. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231060Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C93 Field Experiments
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification