Cambodia\u2019s economy has been growing rapidly over the past two decades, owing in part to women\u2019s\u00a0participation in the labor market. Female labor force participation is relatively high (74 percent) as compared\u00a0to the regional average (59 percent); however, women are less likely than men to be in formal, better paid,\u00a0and more secure forms of employment. Approximately 53 percent of working women are in vulnerable\u00a0employment, compared to 41 percent of men (Kolb, Luinstra, and Signh 2020).<\/p>\n
It is well established that improved access to childcare would reduce the time constraints of unpaid\u00a0care responsibilities, increase employment and productivity, and promote economic growth. Cambodian\u00a0women shoulder, on average, 90 percent of unpaid care work,\u00a0which is substantially higher than the global\u00a0average of 76 percent (ILO 2018). Because the country\u2019s population is relatively young, most care needs\u00a0are currently concentrated in childcare. Cambodian women with young children under age three are less\u00a0likely to engage in the labor force and in entrepreneurship, even more so than for women living in other\u00a0countries in the region (World Bank 2022). Care work also presents a major obstacle to women advancing\u00a0their careers, expanding businesses, and taking up leadership roles in the workplace.<\/p>\n
However, coverage of childcare remains very low, particularly for children under the age of three. Data\u00a0from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) indicate that about one-third of children aged\u00a0three to five are enrolled in preschools, which are primarily run by the government. Formal childcare\u00a0services for children under the age of three are usually privately run, and coverage is low while costs are\u00a0very high. The utilization of services among the zero to three age group was just 3.2 percent in 2012\/13, the\u00a0latest year for which data are available. In the absence of other affordable and quality institutional options,\u00a0childcare for children under three is almost always provided by mothers and family members, generally in\u00a0unpaid arrangements, and at a high opportunity cost of foregone workforce participation.<\/p>\n
The importance of childcare has been recognized in Cambodia for decades, beginning with the 1993\u00a0Constitution. The government is committed to the agenda and to providing children with care and early\u00a0learning opportunities that can improve their life chances and benefit working mothers and the economy\u00a0overall. The country has made strong legal and policy commitments to expand childcare services, and\u00a0public investment in early childhood care and education (ECCE) has been increasing over time. However,\u00a0there are notable gaps in the implementation of laws and policies, and in the coordination of quality care\u00a0service delivery across the public and private sectors, resulting in a poorly functioning care sector. For the\u00a0benefits of childcare to materialize, coordinated investments and initiatives are needed across the nexus\u00a0of work and care.<\/p>\n
This paper aims to provide insights and recommendations to policy makers on strategies to enhance\u00a0early childhood care to support the healthy development of Cambodia\u2019s children and expand the labor\u00a0market opportunities and choices available to working parents, particularly mothers. The study draws on\u00a0four main sources of data: a desk review encompassing existing literature, reports, policy documents, and\u00a0relevant data sources; a phone survey of childcare centers, primarily preschools serving children ages\u00a0three to six; a survey of households with children under the age of three in villages near garment factories;\u00a0and qualitative research\u2014focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with parents,\u00a0caregivers, and stakeholders in the sector.<\/p>\n
The study finds that family demand for center-based care is curbed by insufficient operating hours and\u00a0the poor quality of existing services. Most preschools and childcare centers are open for a half day or\u00a0less, although privately run centers tend to be open longer. There is no official national guideline to\u00a0regulate service quality for all children, leading to variable quality of care across public and private sector\u00a0centers. Childcare providers for children zero to three years of age are not legally required to register\u00a0with governmental institutions. There are curriculum guidelines for public preschools and home-based\u00a0programs (HBPs), but they do not pertain to nonstate services or services for children under age three. The\u00a0child-caretaker ratio, one of the key predictors of child outcomes in early years, is larger than the global\u00a0average and caretaker recruitment is not keeping pace with population growth. Institutional mechanisms\u00a0to support caretaker recruitment and training are severely lacking, as are government regulation and\u00a0oversight mechanisms to ensure the quality of the workforce.<\/p>\n
Family demand for childcare services is low and appears to be at least partly driven by the supply-side\u00a0constraints. Findings from choice experiments show that the maximum of what parents are willing to pay\u00a0for childcare is much lower than the average cost of most centers. Willingness to pay for childcare services\u00a0is affected by the operating hours of centers, their curriculum, and the qualifications of caretakers. While\u00a0cost is a constraint for enrollment in childcare, it is likely not the primary factor influencing parents to keep\u00a0children at home. Research indicates that families do not have a good understanding of the benefits of\u00a0center-based care and early learning interventions to children\u2019s development and their long-term welfare.\u00a0Trust in childcare and concerns about the safety of services seem to be significant barriers to take-up.\u00a0While women\u2019s labor outcomes are most affected by reliance on home-based care, mothers often do not\u00a0have sole or final decision-making power on the choice to enroll their children.<\/p>\n
The Royal Government of Cambodia is highly committed to developing a childcare ecosystem that\u00a0supports working women and their children and strengthens the economy overall. Several components\u00a0of the system are already in place, but there are still major gaps in services for the youngest cohorts of\u00a0children, and fragmentation has stagnated progress in the sector. The policy priorities include increasing\u00a0the supply and quality of childcare in Cambodia while also tackling the social and economic factors that\u00a0limit demand (table ES1.1). On the supply side, further investment is necessary to increase the number of\u00a0childcare facilities and caretakers, while also ensuring quality of service delivery, including the training\u00a0and certification of childcare workers. Other supply-side interventions include fixing loopholes in labor\u00a0laws related to employer-supported childcare and making childcare more accessible through longer\u00a0hours of operation and expanded options for children under age three. To stimulate demand for services,\u00a0awareness-raising activities should be conducted to improve parental knowledge of the importance of\u00a0early learning interventions for young children and to sensitize parents and grandparents to available\u00a0services. The country has a unique window of opportunity to capitalize on the current momentum and\u00a0implement coordinated policy actions and investments to develop a functioning care economy.<\/p>\n