I investigate the long-term effects of after-school childcare on children’s human capital investment. I study a 2007 Dutch reform that expanded childcare subsidies to increase maternal employment, and build a 20-year panel with administrative data to track cohorts from childhood through adulthood. Exploiting cohort exposure and subsidy changes, I show that while maternal employment did not change, after-school care use increased, raising children’s university graduation rates by 8%.I find that this impact results from changing beliefs and preferences rather than cognitive skills, as math scores remain unchanged. The impact is strongest among students facing the highest university access costs, particularly girls from low-educated families. Survey data explains why: the reform normalized mothers using childcare to work, increasing expected returns from university for girls. I show that the reform increased exposure to peers from high-SES families in after-school care centers, potentially driving these changes.

This paper investigates how information frictions affect the efficacy of contraception provision programs. We study a Costa-Rican initiative that aimed at reducing teenage pregnancies. The program combined free access to long-acting reversible contraceptives, eliciting baseline misperceptions about sexual health, and a tailored information campaign to correct for them. Exploiting the geographic variation in the initiative combined with administrative birth data, we find a 16% decrease in teen birth-rate. Using survey data on sexual behavior and beliefs, we show the policy changed the source of information from personal networks to healthcare professionals, which amends misinformation on sexual health and contraception use. The reduction in teen-birth is stronger in conservative districts, where restrictive social norms can explain teenagers' lower knowledge about sexual health, contributing to risky behaviors.