Does all this still matter in the more recent time of skill shortages/Fachkräftemangel? It does: Childcare expansion comes at the cost of more children per staff – but only in fiscally disadvantaged districts. The consequences of skill shortages will be particularly pronounced in these districts 9/n

At the same time, higher fees for low-income families tend to be associated with lower coverage rates. Again, this association does not apply to middle- and high-income families 8/n

For 47 large municipalities, we show that fees for low-income families remain at higher levels in fiscally disadvantaged municipalities. Notably, we find no such associations for high-income families, although the revenue that could be generated would be much higher 7/n

Focusing on childcare coverage rates in the more recent past (2019), we see that the effect of government partisanship is conditional on local fiscal conditions. Left-wing governments in the preceding years are associated with higher coverage only in districts with sound fiscal conditions 4/n

Years after a legal entitlement to childcare has been introduced, we still see substantial regional variation in childcare coverage rates. This variation does not simply reflect urban-rural divides or differences in female employment rates 2/n

We conclude that voters´ perceptions of the seeming importance of wage competitiveness may contribute to the political stabilization of export-led growth models, despite the often sobering economic outcomes of stagnating economic growth and rising inequality. 2/2