24 and have access to contraceptives.55 An additional increase in women's work effort can<sup>come through the encouragement of</sup> women's re-entry into the labor market after an<sup>interruption in employment. This can be</sup> achieved by the provision of effective and cost-efficient<sup>pre-school and child-care facilities.</sup> Recall that the typical pattern is for women in the<sup>region to withdraw from the labor market</sup> upon child-bearing with little tendency to re-enter<sup>the labor market at a later stage in their lives.</sup> The usual approach has been for governments either<sup>to provide such child-care facilities free/</sup> heavily subsidized or not to provide them at<sup>all. Where free child-care facilities are offered,</sup> these have been largely urban-based with<sup>a relatively limited number of places. As a</sup> consequence, the most needy groups have seldom<sup>been the beneficiaries of the subsidies.</sup> Offering pre-school care with selective cost recovery<sup>measures along social cost-benefit lines</sup> would enable more women to enter employment<sup>and, subsequently, to improve their income</sup> potential. It would also assist childeien from disadvantaged<sup>background by exposing them to</sup> organized pre-school education and by improving<sup>their socialization."</sup> 6 In addition, daycare can provide a medium through which children can<sup>be reached with targeted immunization, nutrition</sup> and other programs.

The family structure observed in industrialized<sup>countries is not that typical in the Latin</sup> American region. Internal and overseas migration<sup>("women as urban domestic servants and men</sup> as industrial workers abroad") is quite significant<sup>while in some areas, especially in the</sup> Caribbean, visiting partnerships are a common<sup>form of arrangement." Given the longer life</sup> expectancy of women and the fact that in most<sup>marriages women are younger than their</sup> husbands, widowhood even during prime age<sup>is not uncommon.</sup> 58 In addition, societal norms may not encourage re-marriage.59 These complex socio-demographic effects throw women into a vicious cycle of inability to work and poverty.<sup>In our samples female-headed households</sup> accounted for between 10-15 percent of all households<sup>in Argentina and Venezuela, and for as</sup> much as one-third in Jamaica (and around 50<sup>percent in the Kingston area alone). Consequently,</sup> policies which directly (via the elimination of provisions<sup>in family law and taxation regulations</sup> which induce asymmetry in the treatment<sup>of women with respect to family/employment</sup> 55Education increase3 the level of contraceptive efficiency and lowers the expenditure on contraceptives necessary to reduce the risk of pregnancy at a given level<sup>(Michael, 1973; Rosenweig and</sup> Wolpin, 1982).

5"New research indicates that our fears about<sup>average day-care programs are baseless: it shows that</sup> typical, not just ideal, daycare seems to have no ill effects..."<sup>(Nakamura, Nakamura and Cullen, 1979a,</sup> p. 135).

'It is commonly thought that the primary reason for<sup>the continuing increase in one-parent families</sup> is the growth in the number of divorced and separated<sup>mothers (Ermisch and Wright, 1990).</sup> "<sup>8</sup> Mohan (1986).

5'Rosenhouse (1988).