The Impact of Daycare, Playgroup, and Kindergarten on Maternal Employment in Indonesia

This paper examines the interrelationship among different types of Early Childhood Service (ECS), namely daycare, playgroup, and kindergarten, in supporting mothers’ employment in Indonesia. Using novel data of ECS establishments, I exploit the variation in ECS density across districts interacted with mothers having children eligible to ECS to identify causal effect. I find that daycare significantly increases participation among mothers of infants, while kindergarten drives participation for mothers of children aged 4–6. Daycare and kindergarten complement each other, showing that mothers combine both services for full-time work. Playgroup shows no significant effect across all age groups. ECS effects are driven primarily by service availability rather than accreditation quality. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing ECS types and their interrelationships in understanding how childcare policy shapes maternal employment.