abstract: 'Although formal childcare is considered a key social investment policy

  to combat inequality, available research indicates that in most European

  and other high-income countries parents with lower socio-economic

  positions are less likely to use formal childcare. As the literature on

  the underlying causes of this so-called Matthew effect has not yet

  converged, this article is the first to assess whether educational

  gradients in formal childcare uptake can be accounted for by micro-level

  employment potential and work-family attitudes in 14 European countries

  and Australia. Complementing available research on supply-side factors

  such as policy design features, this study indicates that a large part

  of the educational gradients in formal childcare uptake persist after

  controlling for socio-demographic background variables, employment

  potential, and work-family attitudes as micro-level predictors. However,

  this study also shows that a considerable part of the educational

  differentiation in formal childcare uptake reflects differential

  employment potential. This finding turns attention to policies other

  than childcare to enhance labour market outcomes for lower educated

  groups, which in turn might attenuate the Matthew effect in formal

  childcare. Furthermore, a positive relation between individual-level

  work-family attitudes and the uptake of formal childcare is also

  identified as a partial explanation for educational gradients in formal

  childcare uptake. Although the explanatory power of work-family

  attitudes as an underlying determinant of the Matthew effect is more

  limited compared to employment potential, such variation in the

  acceptance of maternal employment and formal childcare should also be

  considered in the design of inclusive work-family policies.'
affiliation: 'Wood, J (Corresponding Author), Univ Antwerp, Dept Sociol, Sint Jacobstr
  2, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium.

  Wood, Jonas; Neels, Karel; Maes, Julie, Univ Antwerp, Dept Sociol, Antwerp, Belgium.

  Wood, Jonas, Univ Antwerp, Dept Sociol, Sint Jacobstr 2, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium.'
author: Wood, Jonas and Neels, Karel and Maes, Julie
author-email: jonas.wood@uantwerpen.be
author_list:
- family: Wood
  given: Jonas
- family: Neels
  given: Karel
- family: Maes
  given: Julie
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1177/09589287231186068
earlyaccessdate: JUL 2023
eissn: 1461-7269
files: []
issn: 0958-9287
journal: JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL POLICY
keywords: 'Childcare services; education; Europe; Australia; family policy; social

  inequality'
keywords-plus: 'GENDER-ROLE ATTITUDES; MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT; SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION; WOMENS

  EMPLOYMENT; NATIVE MOTHERS; FAMILY POLICY; AVAILABILITY; EDUCATION;

  PATTERNS; MIGRANT'
language: English
month: 2023 JUL 18
number-of-cited-references: '60'
orcid-numbers: 'Neels, Karel/0000-0002-6067-6075

  Wood, Jonas/0000-0002-8344-9481'
papis_id: e50c7a2de7583183d1457874f3e9bcb3
ref: Wood2023closerlook
researcherid-numbers: 'Neels, Karel/S-4337-2016

  '
times-cited: '0'
title: A closer look at demand-side explanations for the Matthew effect in formal
  childcare uptake in Europe and Australia
type: article
unique-id: WOS:001031663800001
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '3'
web-of-science-categories: Public Administration; Social Issues
year: '2023'