This paper examines the role of child care facilities in enabling women’s economic empowerment in the Philippines. With declining fertility rates and increasing labor force participation among women, this paper explores the extent to which gender-responsive child care provision enables mothers to engage in productive work and reduce the burden of unpaid care work. Anchored on a mixed-methods case study approach, this paper draws on a series of data collection activities, including guided surveys, interviews, and site visits to select child care facilities, particularly in Quezon City, Muntinlupa City, Mabalacat City, Pampanga, Iloilo City, and Davao City. Key findings highlight diverse good practices such as the move for the regularization of employment for child development workers, localized employment and income generation schemes for mothers or female clients of the facilities, and the incorporation of gender considerations into the provision of child care services. However, the provision of child care facilities most likely helped female clients in managing reproductive activities more than they were engaged in economic and income-generating activities. It documents how female clients navigate between childbearing, child rearing, and work responsibilities, putting in the equation their access to enabling mechanisms such as the child care facilities engage in for caregiving-centered routines.
This paper recommends enacting legislation to recognize unpaid care work, regularizing child care workers, and integrating child care into local and national development plans. Additionally, it calls for expanding employment, training, social protection, and livelihood opportunities for caregivers. These insights aim to inform policy toward a gender-responsive care economy in the country.
Keywords: child care, early childhood care and development, care economy, women’s labor force participation, gender and development
Principal Author: Michelle Ann A. Ruiz
Contributors: Diether B. Navarosa | Marcos S. Ursua | Joe Mari S. Francisco | Miraluna S. Tacadao | Arianne Ishreen C. Bucar-Tarrosa