Caring for children is a critical responsibility that often falls on women, yet it remains undervalued and underrecognized, further contributing to gender inequality. The reliance on women as unpaid caregivers hampers women’s empowerment, economic opportunities and productivity, and sustainable development, particularly in Asia and the Pacific. Women in the region work the longest hours globally, on average 7.7 hours per day, where only 3.3 hours are paid and the rest is unpaid. It is also the only region with a declining labor force participation rate for women.
Unpaid care work, which includes household duties such as cooking, cleaning, water and fuel collection, childcare, and elder care, has had adverse effects on women’s employment, earnings, and professional mobility. It also perpetuates deeply rooted societal stereotypes and inequalities. There is widespread disparity across the region, where women spend on average 4.1 times more time compared to men on unpaid care activities, and in some countries such as Pakistan, up to 11 times more. Among these unpaid activities, childcare is critical, and investing in childcare can generate many benefits as it boosts women’s participation in the economy, enhances child development, and contributes to a number of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth), and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), thereby benefiting the whole of society and the economy.
However, early childhood education and care (ECEC) remains severely underinvested globally as well as in Asia and the Pacific, and many governments struggle to allocate adequate resources to support young children, working parents, and the social infrastructure needed for early childhood education and care.
The “-tys” (Building Blocks) of Childcare: Affordability, Accessibility, and Quality
Prioritizing and investing in affordable, accessible, and quality ECEC enables parents—especially women—to pursue economic opportunities. It creates new jobs and can provide opportunities for decent work that was previously informally performed and unpaid, thereby generating more income and associated taxes, which represent additional revenue. It can therefore increase female labor force participation, spur economic growth, generate revenue, and address demographic shifts such as aging populations, among many other benefits.
Providing affordable childcare services is essential for supporting economic mobility and enabling women to participate more actively in the workforce. Affordable childcare supports low-income families by providing them with equitable opportunities and reduces the financial burden or risk of falling deeper into poverty to cover childcare costs and other associated out-of-pocket expenses. As a result, families, and women in particular, can have greater financial stability, which improves their overall well-being. While this requires increasing public investment, countries should also develop policies that tap into private and community-based providers through financial and nonfinancial incentives and other forms of support. Some examples include offering a certain number of hours of free services, subsidies or a percentage of subsidies, and free universal access. There are also preferential tax policies that encourage private companies and employers to provide childcare services or those that offer tax deductions for parents whose children are enrolled in accredited childcare programs.
Accessibility is closely linked to affordability and is another key factor in strengthening childcare systems. To improve accessibility, it is important to assess a country’s childcare landscape, the current challenges and barriers that inhibit enrollment, and approaches to eliminating disparities in access. There are diverse types of childcare provision beyond public institutions, including home-based childcare services, private for-profit centers, community/nongovernment organization centers, cooperatives, and employer-supported centers, all with a variety of financial modalities to offset public fiscal constraints. Ensuring accessibility also requires the provision of adequate services to children with disabilities, improved transportation, flexibility in hours, and addressing the rural-urban divide in the availability of childcare services, which is an issue that persists even in developed and advanced economies.
Finally, the quality of services is crucial for increasing the uptake of childcare and the impact on women and society as a whole. This means establishing standards and metrics to ensure that children have a safe and stimulating learning environment to receive the necessary education and social skills to prepare them for future success. These should integrate the needs of rural and indigenous communities. It also requires that caregivers are well-trained, qualified, and adhere to national, provincial, or local standards. Studies have shown that the perceived quality of childcare is an additional factor that determines parents’ willingness to enroll their children in a particular center. In many countries, this entails more than pedagogical infrastructure and meeting standards; parents value intangible aspects of care, such as creating a loving, caring, and compassionate environment.
The Economic Case
Developing policies that promote more affordable, accessible, and quality childcare services can provide significant economic and social benefits. In doing so, governments can remove the barriers women face in entering the workforce and help alleviate some of their unpaid childcare and household duties. The return on investment for ECEC is high and leads to increased productivity, helps to alleviate poverty, and has long-term benefits for children and society. By empowering women, Asia and the Pacific can see a 12% increase in regional annual GDP, and the International Labour Organization estimates that removing gender inequalities and investing in childcare and long-term care services could generate globally up to 280 million jobs by 2030 and an additional 19 million jobs by 2035. Investing in women and children is essential if countries want to ensure sustainable growth for generations to come.
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