Recognition and acceptance of civil and political rights are perhaps the key marker of liberalization, and demonstrate the extent to which transition from an authoritarian or non-democratic regime has taken place.

As costs go up, the demand for increased subsidies on childcare intensifies and the cycle continues. Such a pattern of inflationary spending is unsustainable, and according to the evidence, ineffective.

The relationship between child care and the participation of mothers in the paid workforce seems obvious: if child care was more affordable, more mothers would work. Indeed, it seems so obvious that this statement is repeatedly made without providing any supporting evidence.

Governments have embraced this argument. But statistical and empirical evidence on the strength of the association between female labour-force participation and the cost of child care tell a somewhat different story.

National statistics on child care spending and female labour force participation rates suggest that the relationship works in the opposite direction. Most of the increase in labour force participation rates of women aged 25-34 and 35-44 occurred during the 1980s, while government spending on child care escalated in the 1990s.