Data and Code For: Males Should Mail? Gender Discrimination in Access to Child Care

This study investigates discrimination against women when searching and applying for child care in a nationwide field experiment. We send emails from fictitious parents to 9,313 child care centers in Germany inquiring about access to child care. We randomize whether the email is sent by the child’s mother or father. Our results show that women receive shorter and less positive responses than men. The probability of receiving a response does not differ by gender, highlighting the importance of going beyond response rates to detect discrimination. We provide suggestive evidence that regional differences in gender discrimination are related to gender norms.