Childcare

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Access to good quality, affordable childcare is a win-win situation for all—it improves developmental outcomes for children, enhances job opportunities for women, boosts productivity and profits for businesses, and supports socio-economic growth. Hence the topic features prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals, the World Bank Group’s (WBG) Gender Strategy, and IFC’s 3.0 strategy focused on creating markets where needed the most. In addition to governments, parents, and care providers, employers can also play a role in meeting their employees’ care needs and supporting their continued employment and the well-being of their families. Since 2017, IFC has published a series of global and regional reports on the business case and good practices for employer-supported childcare. Building on this research, IFC’s Global Tackling Childcare Advisory Program is a three-year program that works with companies across regions and sectors to facilitate the implementation of good family-friendly practices through advisory engagements and peer learning. The Program has helped companies conduct employee childcare needs assessments, develop and implement action plans, share knowledge, and measure and communicate the business case for investing in childcare so that they can continue making these investments. The program also focuses on improving the enabling environment for employer-supported childcare in the 26 countries where, according to IFC’s research, employers are legally mandated to provide childcare. The program does this by: • Conducting research to identify care demand and supply barriers and gauge employer readiness for legal compliance, and by bringing together public and private sector partners to discuss the business case and solutions to increase compliance. In addition, through market research, the program aims to identify investment opportunities in nascent care markets. • Working with the World Bank, governments, and related entities to inform childcare policies. The program is being implemented through a network of partners to enable knowledge-sharing, action, collaboration, and creation of new tools. This network includes: • An internal WBG-wide working group that meets regularly to collaborate, coordinate efforts, and develop joint public-private sector solutions for advancing childcare. • The IFC-led peer-learning collaboration in Pakistan with 14 companies that have made commitments to become family-friendly employers by implementing policies such as childcare, flex work, paid parental leave, safe transport, and breastfeeding facilities. Many of these companies have already met their commitments. • The IFC-led Global Tackling Childcare Working Group of more than 30 organizations (for e.g., Goldman Sachs, the ILO, LEGO, OECD, Patagonia, UN Global Compact, UN Women, and UNICEF) and the Government of Paraguay. The group has developed a first-of-its-kind global guide for employer-supported childcare, covering topics such as childcare demand assessments, quality, hygiene, nutrition, safety, financial sustainability, and results measurement. The guide is available at www.ifc.org/tacklingchildcareguide The program’s regional scope includes ongoing work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Fiji, India, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Follow this work on Twitter #TacklingChildcare and read various reports, case studies, and blogs here: www.ifc.org/tacklingchildcare