As poor urban women come under increasing pressure to travel long distances to find work, what happens to their children? What can be done to improve childcare? Could neighbourhood-based childcare schemes not only mind children while mothers work, but also improve their nutritional status and offer pre-school education?

A report from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) endorses a novel state-subsidised childcare scheme in the slums of Guatemala City. It shows how this kind of initiative can contribute to reducing urban poverty, food insecurity and childhood malnutrition. The scheme is replicable wherever rural-to-urban migration has reduced access to extended family networks and lack of childcare assistance stops women from taking advantage of new employment opportunities. It could also help prevent older sisters from dropping out of school in order to help their mothers look after young siblings.

In 1991 the Guatemalan government set up the Hogares Comunitarios Program (HCP) to provide a non-traditional childcare alternative. Under the scheme, a group of parents select a local woman to be care provider for up to ten children in her own home. There are now around two hundred HCP day care centres in three areas of Guatemala City.

Carers are paid jointly by the parents and HCP. They are given cash to buy food for beneficiary children and they also receive food from the United Nations' World Food Programme. Of the total costs incurred by HCP, 80% comes from the state. By far the most expensive component of the programme is the cash transfer for food, which represents 40% of the cost.

An evaluation carried out by IFPRI compared families participating in the scheme and non-beneficiary households in the same neighbourhood. It found that:

• HCP is well designed and appreciated: it provides affordable and reliable care to enable members of vulnerable households – particularly female-headed households – to enter the workforce.
• In general, the quality of care is acceptable, but variations exist between care providers and insufficient time is devoted to educational activities.
• While they welcome the opportunity to work at home, many care providers feel they have too little training and pay – they receive only US$5 from parents and US$3 from the programme each month.
• Although parents are pleased with the scheme, they do little to help.
• The programme is having a positive impact on children’s nutrient intake and dietary diversity: participating kids consume 20% more energy and 50% more of some key micronutrients than non-beneficiary kids.
• The income of beneficiary mothers is 30% higher than those of other working mothers and they are more likely to be in formal employment and receive work-related social and medical benefits.

In order to improve and expand schemes of this kind, IFPRI recommends:

• including a health component in the package of interventions to promote overall child health, development and well-being
• strengthening the training and in-service support of care providers to encourage responsible caring behaviours
• hiring trained staff to assist care providers and strengthen their teaching and caring skills
• follow-up trials to assess whether the good nutritional start received by HPC pre-schoolers is reflected in improved health in later childhood.

Source(s):
‘Does subsidized childcare help poor working women in urban areas? Evaluation of a government-sponsored program in Guatemala City’ by Marie T. Ruel, Bénédicte de la Brière and Kelly Hallman, Agnes Quisumbing and Nora Coj, FCND Discussion Paper No 131, International Food Policy Research Institute, 2002 Full document.

Funded by: USAID

id21 Research Highlight: 24 November 2003

Further Information:
Marie T. Ruel
Food Consumption and Nutrition Division
International Food Policy Research Institute
2033 K Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20006
U.S.A.

Tel: +1 202 862 5600
Fax: +1 202 467 4439
Contact the contributor: M.Ruel@cgiar.org

Contact the contributor: ifpri@cgiar.org

International Food Policy Research Institute

Other related links:
'Underweight and stunting: wake-up call for nutritionists in South Asia'

Centre for International Child Health

'Urban Livelihoods and Food and Nutrition Security in Greater Accra, Ghana'

'The effect of early childhood development programs on women's labor force participation and older children's schooling in Kenya'

Childwatch International Research Network http://www.childwatch.uio.no/