%0 Report
        %A Hermes, Henning
%A Lergetporer, Philipp
%A Peter, Frauke
%A Wiederhold, Simon
        %T Application Barriers and the Socioeconomic Gap in Child Care Enrollment
        %D 2024
        %8 2024 Apr
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 16915
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp16915
        %X Why are children with lower socioeconomic status (SES) substantially less likely to be enrolled in child care? We study whether barriers in the application process work against lower-SES children — the group known to benefit strongest from child care enrollment. In an RCT in Germany with highly subsidized child care (N = 607), we offer treated families information and personal assistance for applications. We find substantial, equity-enhancing effects of the treatment, closing half of the large SES gap in child care enrollment. Increased enrollment for lower-SES families is likely driven by altered application knowledge and behavior. We discuss scalability of our intervention and derive policy implications for the design of universal child care programs.
        %K randomized controlled trial
%K information
%K application barriers
%K early childhood
%K child care
%K educational inequality