Understanding childcare ecosystem in Kenya is vital

Women are engaged in childcare in several ways, notably as care givers or minders, and as owners of childcare enterprises. The roles have implications on the economic well-being of women.

As caregivers, women may be unable to participate in income-generating activities and jobs due to the responsibilities that often fall on them.

These have a bearing on their income, their participation in the labour market and other income-generating activities.

Coupled with their reproductive roles, childcare impacts women’s economic abilities and may limit their access to social and economic opportunities.

For instance, women managing their businesses can be distracted by the nature of childcare responsibilities, which usually require significant time, thereby lowering their productivity.

But as owners of childcare enterprises, women can potentially earn a living by providing spaces where families can leave their children for care.

In low-income settlements, where most women are employed as casual labourers or engaged in the informal economy, children are often left unsupervised or under the care of a neighbour or a relative.

Quality childcare

As more women enter the labour force due to changes in societal institutions, the need for quality childcare services is increasing. 

Access to capital limits the quality of infrastructure that poor women set up, hence having a bearing on the quality of childcare services on offer. Time constraints also impact the level of childcare services as the same owners may have other domestic work or income-generating responsibilities.

In Africa, childcare and its connection with women’s economic empowerment is an understudied topic.

Although the link and the connections may be evident, there is an evident gap in how policymakers address the two in both policy and practice.

That means childcare and women’s economic empowerment continue to be addressed separately with little or no consideration on understanding the linkages between them.

International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) Africa is conducting research on childcare ecosystem in Kenya as part of its work on women economic empowerment, with specific focus on women-owned childcare enterprises. 

On January 31, 2024, ICRW convened the first technical advisory group (TAG) in Nairobi for representatives and experts from government agencies, the private sector, childcare membership organisations, childcare service providers, academia, think tanks and civil society organisations.

The study will examine how woman-owned childcare enterprises are structured and the extent to which the services meet the needs of children, women business owners and women who leave behind their children under childcare facilities.

These and other questions form the backbone of the research. Key stakeholders in the ecosystem, alongside the technical advisory group, will help to sharpen the research approach and dissemination of the findings. The findings will contribute to the body of research on childcare systems in Kenya.

This study provides a good foundational basis to other work documented in Kenya but is, more importantly, viewed as having the potential to disrupt the ecosystem through evidence-based research. 

Mr Afifu is a gender and women economic empowerment specialist

Dr Ouma is a senior research scientist at the International Center for Research on Women