Married mothers who relocate are less likely to be employed after an interstate move than married childless women and nonmobile mothers. Here, we ask whether moving to a state with more expensive childcare is associated with lower odds of maternal employment among mothers who had been employed prior to relocation. We use hierarchical binomial logistic regression models, combining data from the 2015 American Community Survey five-year sample and state-level childcare costs to assess married mothers' employment following an interstate move, controlling for states' economic conditions. We show that employment odds for married mothers were about 42% lower than those for childless married women in the year following a move. Married mothers who moved to more expensive childcare states had odds of employment that were 18% lower than those of married mothers who moved to less expensive childcare states, showing that childcare accessibility shapes mothers' employment decisions even among those with stronger labor force attachment. Moving back to respondents' or their spouses' state of birth and moving to states with more favorable economic conditions improved odds of employment as well. Overall, we show that moving to states with fewer childcare barriers is associated with higher levels of maternal employment, partly mitigating the negative labor market effects of interstate migration.

中文翻译：

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国家生来平等吗？搬到托儿费用更高的州会降低母亲的就业几率。

与已婚无子女妇女和非流动母亲相比，搬迁的已婚母亲在跨州搬家后不太可能就业。在这里，我们询问搬到托儿费用更高的州是否与搬迁前已就业的母亲的产妇就业几率较低有关。我们使用分层二项式逻辑回归模型，结合 2015 年美国社区调查五年样本的数据和州级儿童保育成本来评估州际搬迁后已婚母亲的就业情况，并控制各州的经济状况。我们表明，在搬家后的一年中，已婚母亲的就业几率比没有孩子的已婚妇女低 42%。搬到托儿费用较高的州的已婚母亲的就业几率比搬到托儿费用较低的州的已婚母亲低 18%，这表明托儿服务的可及性影响了母亲的就业决定，即使在那些劳动力依附性较强的人中也是如此。回到受访者或其配偶的出生状态并搬到经济条件更有利的州，也提高了就业几率。总体而言，我们表明，搬到托儿障碍较少的州与更高水平的孕产妇就业相关，部分减轻了州际移民对劳动力市场的负面影响。即使在那些劳动力依附性较强的人中也做出了就业决定。回到受访者或其配偶的出生状态并搬到经济条件更有利的州，也提高了就业几率。总体而言，我们表明，搬到托儿障碍较少的州与更高水平的孕产妇就业相关，部分减轻了州际移民对劳动力市场的负面影响。即使在那些劳动力依附性较强的人中也做出了就业决定。回到受访者或其配偶的出生状态并搬到经济条件更有利的州，也提高了就业几率。总体而言，我们表明，搬到托儿障碍较少的州与更高水平的孕产妇就业相关，部分减轻了州际移民对劳动力市场的负面影响。