Mobilizing the Manpower of Mothers: Childcare under the Lanham Act during WWII

The Lanham Act was a federal infrastructure bill passed by Congress in 1940 and eventually used to fund programs for the preschool and school-aged children of working women during WWII. It remains, to this day, the only example in US history of an (almost) universal, largely federally supported childcare program. We explore its role in enabling and increasing the labor supply of mothers during WWII using information on the program, war contracts, and employment at the city level. Use of Lanham Act funds for a wartime childcare program was initially controversial. However, the program was eventually well funded per child in average daily attendance and provided generally high-quality care. But it was late to start, limited in scope, and incapable of greatly increasing women’s employment in the aggregate. Childcare facilities were funded more in places that already had higher participation rates of mothers suggesting that facilities were effective in caring for the children but did not greatly increase the employment of mothers. Their impact on the children served is still to be determined.

《兰哈姆法案》是美国国会于1940年通过的一项联邦基础设施法案，最终在二战期间被用于资助针对职业女性的学龄前及学龄儿童的项目。时至今日，它仍是美国历史上唯一一个（近乎）普及、主要由联邦政府支持的儿童保育项目案例。我们利用该项目、战争合同及城市层面的就业信息，探究其在二战期间对促成和增加母亲劳动力供给所发挥的作用。将《兰哈姆法案》资金用于战时儿童保育项目最初存在争议。然而，该项目最终按日均在园儿童人数获得了充足的资金支持，并提供了总体高质量的保育服务。但该项目启动较晚、范围有限，无法从整体上大幅提高女性就业率。儿童保育设施在母亲参与率本就较高的地区获得了更多资金，这表明这些设施在儿童保育方面是有效的，但并未大幅提高母亲的就业率。这些设施对所服务儿童的影响仍有待确定。