Effects on mothers' employment Some mothers with young children do not participate in the paid labour force because child care is too expensive. Single mothers are likely to be the most sensitive to child care costs. According to one study, nearly 40 per cent of single mothers in the paid labour force say they would have to quit their jobs if their child care costs increased by 25 per cent. Other studies reviewed found that if child care costs were fully subsidized, the rate of full-time employment for mothers would increase from 29 per cent to 52 per cent. This finding is even more dramatic in a lifetime context because mothers who are employed part-time for a substantial part of their lives generally have lower lifetime incomes.
Many mothers work part-time because of child care considerations.
On average, women with full-time jobs earn about 60 to 70 per cent of men's wages. Yet, it appears that only about 5 per cent of this gap is pure wage discrimination. Most of the gaps are due to employment decisions associated with women's primary child-rearing responsibilities. Effects on the child care sector Public investment in high quality early childhood care and education would create 170,000 new jobs for child care workers in regulated child care, but 250,000 jobs in the unregulated sector would be eliminated, so the net effect on employment would be negative. The government would also gain extra tax and other revenues because few unregulated caregivers declare income for tax purposes.