Childcare Availability Study

Project Objective

The study also aims to understand the characteristics of the parents that use the childcare services and the extent to which different types of childcare providers cater to different segments of the population. The survey will cover different types of childcare services, including those for which the primary objective is to care for children while parents work as well as early childhood education services like preschools for which the primary objective is children’s development.

Project Description

The World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Chief Economist Office is preparing a regional flagship report on childcare. The report is exploring how childcare availability can promote equity and growth objectives and how childcare can be designed to balance the dual objectives of promoting children’s development and mothers’ labour force participation. To inform the report, the team would like to better understand the types of childcare currently available on the market and the profile of parents who currently avail of these services. This project will employ two methods of data collection, namely “Mystery Shopper” style interview and “Firm Survey” with the same selected sample. The study aims to profile the types of public and private childcare available in different areas in Cambodia, including childcare costs, hours of operation, type of services provided, indicators of the quality of care, indicators of the quality of customer service, and intake capacity.