From dawn til dusk: The implications of full-day care on children’s development

This study investigates the consequences of expanding the supply of care centers operating on a full-day basis on children’s skills just before entering primary school. Identification relies on a substantial expansion of the number of full-day slots triggered by several reforms of the German child care system. Using unique administrative data covering almost 100’000 children in one German state, we find negative effects on children’s socio-emotional maturity. These effects are mainly driven by children from educationally disadvantaged families and ethnic minorities. Nevertheless, children from ethnic minorities do benefit in terms of school readiness.