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 and where the wartime need was the greatest. The impact on the children served is still to be determined.

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动员母亲的人力：二战期间《兰哈姆法案》下的托儿服务

兰哈姆法案是国会于 1940 年通过的一项联邦基础设施法案，最终用于资助二战期间职业女性的学龄前和学龄儿童的计划。直到今天，它仍然是美国历史上唯一一个（几乎）普遍的、主要由联邦政府支持的托儿计划的例子。我们利用有关该计划、战争合同和城市就业的信息，探讨了它在二战期间促进和增加母亲劳动力供应方面的作用。将《兰哈姆法案》资金用于战时托儿计划最初是有争议的。然而，该计划最终为每个儿童的平均每日出勤率提供了充足的资金，并提供了普遍高质量的护理。但它起步较晚，范围有限，无法大幅增加女性的总体就业。在母亲参与率已经较高且战时需求最大的地方，托儿所得到的资金更多。对所服务儿童的影响仍有待确定。