The care economy is growing, not least because of a growing demand for child care. On the International Day of Care and Support, it is important to remember that shortcomings in the provision of affordable child care for all workers, including those in informal employment, need to be addressed to decrease gender inequalities at work.
The UN emphasizes that new solutions to care are needed with regards to the nature and provision of care policies and services. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the crucial role that child care plays to support working parents. Yet, gaps exist in our understanding of the most effective models of child care provision, especially in resource-limited settings, and their adaptability to diverse communities.
To explore these issues, WIEGO and the Early Childhood Development Action Network (ECDAN) organized the webinar: Models of Child Care Provision in the Global South. The quality, accessibility and affordability of models such as cooperatives, social franchises, and state-funded frameworks in the Global South were discussed.
During the webinar, WIEGO launched a new e-book on Child Care in Markets. The book explores how workers in the informal economy in South Africa, Ghana and Rwanda are informing, developing and implementing child-care policy and running early-childhood-development centers in market places. These centers reduce the burden on women who both work and care for children, and those who work as carers without pay.
Silke Staab, Research Specialist at UN Women and moderator of the webinar, said about the book:
‘I encourage everyone to follow the link and check it out. It has really such good examples of identifying child-care needs from the bottom up and playing that bridging role between the needs of the workers and the policy frameworks which often exist but are not really adapted to those needs.’
Child Care in Markets features invaluable insights from three countries, drawing on our work with local partners, best practices, and practical recommendations for supporting workers in informal employment with child-care solutions.
In Ghana, WIEGO’s Focal Cities Accra Team worked with a multi-stakeholder group (which included parents, market traders and child-care workers, among others) to develop guidelines for child care services in markets. In South Africa, partner Asiye eTafuleni developed a pilot pop-up child care facility to address urban infrastructure challenges. And in Rwanda, where child care policies were in place, the Syndicat des travailleurs domestiques et indépendants de l'économie informelle (SYTRIECI) worked with WIEGO and StreetNet International on policy implementation: publicizing the benefits of child care centers through trainings with workers and media campaigns and working with local authorities to ensure that ensure that space is set aside for child care in markets being built or redeveloped.
Sneha Sharma, from WIEGO’s Social Protection Programme and Child Care Specialist, said during the webinar:
‘Across South Africa, Ghana and Rwanda, we have been working for over five years now with worker organizations and partners. We have now reached a point where we have some best practices to share, some key learnings and even success stories. The e-book gives a story of how workers in the informal economy are now writing and influencing policies that guide child care. And they are also ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs addressed.’