Theme:
Childcare
About the Issue
Childcare is a critical service that promotes early childhood development. It is offered to children from birth until they enter primary school (school-age children may also need childcare). The objectives of childcare are to provide quality and safe care, as well as learning and development opportunities during the day while parents are working. High-quality childcare ensures that children receive early education with peers, responsive care from a provider, safety and security, and health and nutrition support.
Many children between the ages of 3 to 5 or 6 can access pre-school. The primary objective of pre-school is to prepare children for primary school by supporting their cognitive, socio-emotional, and physical development. Pre-school can serve as a full or partial childcare solution depending on whether it operates for a full or half-day.
Childcare is not only critical for children themselves but also for their parents and caregivers. High quality affordable childcare means women and men can work and earn a living knowing their young child is learning and developing in a safe environment. When women earn and control their own incomes, more resources tend to be channeled to support their children’s health, education, and overall family welfare. Scaling up families’ access to quality childcare has the potential to unlock pathways out of poverty, build human capital, and increase equity.
The childcare crisis, which had been simmering for decades, worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic as parents, especially women, dropped out of the workforce to care for their children while childcare centers and services were closed.
Expanding high quality childcare has a multi-generational impact: by promoting equity and improving women’s employment and productivity, child outcomes, family welfare, business productivity, and overall economic development for a country.
Through the Childcare4All campaign, ECDAN partners seek to:
- Elevate the issue of childcare within the global policy agenda.
- Support country-level advocacy to strengthen childcare systems.
- Improve cross-regional knowledge exchange.
- Align diverse partners working across the care agenda behind a common narrative and shared objectives.
Visit ECDAN’s childcare4all website to learn more.
This thematic page was developed in collaboration with our partners and provides key information for those working to advance childcare for families around the world.
Why it Matters
With nearly 350 million children across the globe in need of high-quality childcare, it is critical that we build stronger, more resilient early education and care systems to improve life outcomes for children and create stronger, more equitable economies.
Resources
- Forty percent of children, or nearly 350 million children below primary school entry age, need childcare but do not have access to it (World Bank).
- Lack of access to quality childcare services disproportionately impacts families in low-and middle-income countries, where nearly 8 out of 10 children are in need of childcare. A child in a low-income country is nearly five times less likely to have access to childcare than a child living in a high-income country (World Bank).
- It is estimated that 43 million new jobs could be created with an expansion of childcare (World Bank).
- The childcare crisis often means older siblings – particularly girls – are forced to drop out of school due to the demands of caring for younger siblings (World Bank).
In 2018, global female labor force participation was 48 percent, compared with 75 percent for men (International Labour Organization).
Childcare can be provided in various settings and is known by different names across countries.
Home-based care: This type of care generally falls into two categories:
- In-home care: Provided by someone in the child’s own home, often referred to as a nanny or au pair.
- Family childcare: Care provided for a group of children in the caregiver’s home.
Center-based care: These centers offer care for young children and are commonly known as daycares, nurseries, or crèches. Preschools and kindergartens can also fulfill this childcare function.
Family and other informal arrangements: These arrangements place the responsibility of care on a friend or family member and may involve taking the child to work or leaving the child with a neighbor, friend, sibling, grandparent, or other relative. This type of care may or may not be compensated.
Childcare provides triple dividends with benefits to women, children, and the economy.
- Childcare lays the foundation for learning and positive social relationships improves children’s cognitive skills, psychosocial outcomes, school readiness, and academic achievement, while reducing repetition and drop-out rates.
- High-quality childcare addresses children’s needs for good health, nutrition, safety, responsive caregiving, and learning opportunities.
- Access to childcare provides opportunities for both parents to work increases family earnings, creates jobs, boosts tax revenue, and spurs economic growth, offering a multigenerational impact through government investment.
- Meeting the need for childcare services could create an estimated 43 million new jobs globally, allowing more parents, especially women, to seek or return to employment.
