Women’s labor force participation (LFP) in Mongolia is declining, especially in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar where almost half the country’s population resides. Childbearing and childcare are major barriers to women’s employment. In recent years, the Government of Mongolia has rapidly extended public childcare programs and childcare subsidies to boost mothers’ labor force participation while preparing the children for school. A team of local PEP researchers conducted an experiment to evaluate the impact of the government’s Pre-School Education Program (PSEP) on women’s participation in the labor market. They found that offering free public childcare increases the hourly wages and the rate of employment of parents, especially mothers, in the short term.
Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications:
Working paper (coming soon) | Policy brief 227 | More about the PEP-PAGE II initiative
