In this article, we investigate how state-to-state differences in U.S. childcare costs and gender norms are associated with maternal employment. Although an abundance of research has examined factors that influence mothers’ employment, few studies explore the interrelationship between maternal employment and culture, policy, and individual resources across U.S. states. Using a representative sample of women in the 2017 American Community Survey along with state-level measures of childcare costs and gender norms, we examine the relationship between these state conditions and mothers’ probability of employment. We pay careful attention to differences in mothers’ level of education. Our results suggest that expensive childcare is associated with lower maternal employment, particularly for those with less education. For the college educated, expensive childcare is negatively associated with maternal employment in states with traditional gender norms that uphold mothers as primary caregivers. Among mothers with lower levels of education, gender norms have a limited association with employment. These findings suggest that highly educated mothers mobilize resources to remain in the labor force when paid work is supported by local gender norms. For less-educated mothers, expensive childcare predicts lower employment regardless of gender norms, indicating that structural constraints outweigh normative expectations among those with fewer resources.

在本文中，我们调查了美国儿童保育费用和性别规范的州与州之间的差异与孕产妇就业之间的关系。尽管有大量研究考察了影响母亲就业的因素，但很少有研究探讨美国各州的母亲就业与文化、政策和个人资源之间的相互关系。使用 2017 年美国社区调查中的代表性女性样本以及州级儿童保育成本和性别规范的衡量标准，我们研究了这些州条件与母亲就业概率之间的关系。我们密切关注母亲受教育程度的差异。我们的结果表明，昂贵的育儿费用与较低的孕产妇就业率有关，尤其是对于那些受教育程度较低的人。对于受过大学教育的人来说，在有传统性别规范支持母亲作为主要照顾者的国家，昂贵的儿童保育与孕产妇就业呈负相关。在教育水平较低的母亲中，性别规范与就业的联系有限。这些发现表明，当当地性别规范支持有偿工作时，受过高等教育的母亲会调动资源留在劳动力队伍中。对于受教育程度较低的母亲，无论性别规范如何，昂贵的育儿费用都预示着较低的就业率，这表明结构性限制超过了资源较少的母亲的规范期望。这些发现表明，当当地性别规范支持有偿工作时，受过高等教育的母亲会调动资源留在劳动力队伍中。对于受教育程度较低的母亲，无论性别规范如何，昂贵的育儿费用都预示着较低的就业率，这表明结构性限制超过了资源较少的母亲的规范期望。这些发现表明，当当地性别规范支持有偿工作时，受过高等教育的母亲会调动资源留在劳动力队伍中。对于受教育程度较低的母亲，无论性别规范如何，昂贵的育儿费用都预示着较低的就业率，这表明结构性限制超过了资源较少的母亲的规范期望。