Who has difficulty accessing affordable childcare

This is the first in a series of five reports that together use Growing Up in New Zealand data to explore how the inability to access affordable childcare affects the long run labour market outcomes of mothers. This report investigates how commonly mothers experience difficulty accessing affordable childcare and the characteristics of the mothers most likely to face these issues. We find large ethnic disparities in access to childcare remain even after controlling for a wide range of parental characteristics, with Māori and Pasifika substantially more likely to experience access issues than Europeans. Similarly, access issues have a strong socioeconomic gradient, measured both by household income and deprivation index, and antenatal unemployment and benefit receipt in particular predict a lack of access to childcare.

Citation

Isabelle Sin. 2022. Who has difficulty
accessing affordable childcare? Motu Note 46