Child Care, Work-Family Policy and Female Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The reasons for the underrepresentation of women in entrepreneurship are not well understood. More importantly, the question of how work-family policies shape women's entrepreneurship remains unexplored. This paper examines the effect of access to affordable child care on women's entrepreneurship. Using the first universal child care program in China, I find that an institution with a more accessible child care system significantly increases the number of female entrepreneurs without influencing the number of male entrepreneurs. This finding indicates that family-friendly policies may close the gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. Policies that seek to stimulate female entrepreneurship should be coordinated with work-family programs.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship, work-family policy, child care, gender inequality, China

JEL Classification: J1, J2, D1, M1