As to studies conducted in the region, Berlinsky and Galiani (2007) analysed the effect of providing free preschool centres in Argentina and concluded that this led to a significant increase in the labour supply of mothers. By contrast, studies conducted in Chile (Encina and Martinez, 2009, Medrano, 2009, Aguirre, 2011) found that expanding childcare services had no significant impact on the number of mothers in the labour force. The authors argue that various factors, including cultural aspects, as well as the characteristics of the care supply in terms of the hours it is available and application procedures, may explain this lack of impact.