The research work featured in the Washington Post indicates that universal child care might encourage people to have children. The featured analysis “The Economic Consequences of Family Policies: Lessons from a Century of Legislation in High-Income Countries” from 2017 Journal of Economic Perspectives written by economists Claudia Olivetti (Boston College) and Barbara Petrongolo (Queen Mary University of London), found that spending on early-childhood programs tends to be related to an increase in fertility and a decrease in the gender wage gap.