Abstract/Summary

Cambodia’s economy has been growing rapidly over the past two decades, owing in part to women’s participation in the labor market. Female labor force participation is relatively high (74 percent) as compared to the regional average (59 percent); however, women are less likely than men to be in formal, better paid, and more secure forms of employment. Approximately 53 percent of working women are in vulnerable employment, compared to 41 percent of men (Kolb, Luinstra, and Signh 2020).

It is well established that improved access to childcare would reduce the time constraints of unpaid care responsibilities, increase employment and productivity, and promote economic growth. Cambodian women shoulder, on average, 90 percent of unpaid care work, which is substantially higher than the global average of 76 percent (ILO 2018). Because the country’s population is relatively young, most care needs are currently concentrated in childcare. Cambodian women with young children under age three are less likely to engage in the labor force and in entrepreneurship, even more so than for women living in other countries in the region (World Bank 2022). Care work also presents a major obstacle to women advancing their careers, expanding businesses, and taking up leadership roles in the workplace.

However, coverage of childcare remains very low, particularly for children under the age of three. Data from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) indicate that about one-third of children aged three to five are enrolled in preschools, which are primarily run by the government. Formal childcare services for children under the age of three are usually privately run, and coverage is low while costs are very high. The utilization of services among the zero to three age group was just 3.2 percent in 2012/13, the latest year for which data are available. In the absence of other affordable and quality institutional options, childcare for children under three is almost always provided by mothers and family members, generally in unpaid arrangements, and at a high opportunity cost of foregone workforce participation.

The importance of childcare has been recognized in Cambodia for decades, beginning with the 1993 Constitution. The government is committed to the agenda and to providing children with care and early learning opportunities that can improve their life chances and benefit working mothers and the economy overall. The country has made strong legal and policy commitments to expand childcare services, and public investment in early childhood care and education (ECCE) has been increasing over time. However, there are notable gaps in the implementation of laws and policies, and in the coordination of quality care service delivery across the public and private sectors, resulting in a poorly functioning care sector. For the benefits of childcare to materialize, coordinated investments and initiatives are needed across the nexus of work and care.

This paper aims to provide insights and recommendations to policy makers on strategies to enhance early childhood care to support the healthy development of Cambodia’s children and expand the labor market opportunities and choices available to working parents, particularly mothers. The study draws on four main sources of data: a desk review encompassing existing literature, reports, policy documents, and relevant data sources; a phone survey of childcare centers, primarily preschools serving children ages three to six; a survey of households with children under the age of three in villages near garment factories; and qualitative research—focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with parents, caregivers, and stakeholders in the sector.

The study finds that family demand for center-based care is curbed by insufficient operating hours and the poor quality of existing services. Most preschools and childcare centers are open for a half day or less, although privately run centers tend to be open longer. There is no official national guideline to regulate service quality for all children, leading to variable quality of care across public and private sector centers. Childcare providers for children zero to three years of age are not legally required to register with governmental institutions. There are curriculum guidelines for public preschools and home-based programs (HBPs), but they do not pertain to nonstate services or services for children under age three. The child-caretaker ratio, one of the key predictors of child outcomes in early years, is larger than the global average and caretaker recruitment is not keeping pace with population growth. Institutional mechanisms to support caretaker recruitment and training are severely lacking, as are government regulation and oversight mechanisms to ensure the quality of the workforce.

Family demand for childcare services is low and appears to be at least partly driven by the supply-side constraints. Findings from choice experiments show that the maximum of what parents are willing to pay for childcare is much lower than the average cost of most centers. Willingness to pay for childcare services is affected by the operating hours of centers, their curriculum, and the qualifications of caretakers. While cost is a constraint for enrollment in childcare, it is likely not the primary factor influencing parents to keep children at home. Research indicates that families do not have a good understanding of the benefits of center-based care and early learning interventions to children’s development and their long-term welfare. Trust in childcare and concerns about the safety of services seem to be significant barriers to take-up. While women’s labor outcomes are most affected by reliance on home-based care, mothers often do not have sole or final decision-making power on the choice to enroll their children.

The Royal Government of Cambodia is highly committed to developing a childcare ecosystem that supports working women and their children and strengthens the economy overall. Several components of the system are already in place, but there are still major gaps in services for the youngest cohorts of children, and fragmentation has stagnated progress in the sector. The policy priorities include increasing the supply and quality of childcare in Cambodia while also tackling the social and economic factors that limit demand (table ES1.1). On the supply side, further investment is necessary to increase the number of childcare facilities and caretakers, while also ensuring quality of service delivery, including the training and certification of childcare workers. Other supply-side interventions include fixing loopholes in labor laws related to employer-supported childcare and making childcare more accessible through longer hours of operation and expanded options for children under age three. To stimulate demand for services, awareness-raising activities should be conducted to improve parental knowledge of the importance of early learning interventions for young children and to sensitize parents and grandparents to available services. The country has a unique window of opportunity to capitalize on the current momentum and implement coordinated policy actions and investments to develop a functioning care economy.

Link to the article: https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099092424012023366/p178134194793202718f841b6a877d0c5a4