A World Bank working paper co-authored by my friend Liza Perova finds a strong link between the provision of child care and mothers' access to the labor market. While the overall conclusion is positive, there are a few factors limiting the benefits of the policies, such as the fact that women end up doing more uncompensated work around the house and often don't end up increasing their income very much.
And I just became aware of this heartbreaking 2018 study of an experiment that involved sending out resumes to a variety of jobs. It turns out that GPA helps men get interviews, but the relationship for women is less clear: it seems employers prefer females who are B students to those who are A students.
Even well into the 21st Century gender continues to limit job access! Wow.
