A study of the relationship between child care subsidies and the length of time between the birth of a child and the mother's entry to employment, particularly among lower-skilled women, who typically spend a larger proportion of their earnings on child care than do women with higher skills and education. The study is based on The Fragile Families and Well-Being Study (a nationally representative data set), and a unique data set of local policy indicators, and tests the hypothesis that child care subsidies cause new mothers to enter the labor force more expeditiously by: (1) reducing the cost of employment relative to earnings; and (2) facilitating stable child care arrangements. It predicts that the receipt of subsidies and the timing of entry to paid employment will vary with child care policies, after controlling for individual and family characteristics that influence the benefits and costs of subsidy use, and of paid employment relative to home production (i.e. caregiving) work.