The relevance of public childcare for the decision on and working hours of mothers' re-entry into the labor market

In this article, we analyse the role of public childcare for the decision on and working hours of mothers at re-entry into the labor market in couple households after parental leave. We focus on attitudes of mothers on childcare and the actual use of different opportunities for childcare during parental leave, as well as care rates on regional level. The database are panel data of the DJI-Landerstudie in the years 2012 to 2014. For the decision to return to work, the planned date of return and the favoured extent of weekly working hours are important. A positive attitude towards public childcare for children at the age of one to two years, care in a nursery school or in daycare during parental leave as well as a higher childcare rate on regional basis lead to a higher extent of working hours for mothers.