INNOVATIONS IN
CHILDCARE TOADVANCE WOMEN’S
ECONOMICEMPOWERMENT
Can inclusive Care Entrepreneurshipbe a pathway to address gaps inthe childcare sector in Asia and the Pacific?

TABLE OF CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

3

THE THINK PIECE IN SHORT

4

1.

METHODOLOGY

82.

DEFINITIONS AND GUIDING FRAMEWORKS

9

2.1

Definitions

9

2.2.

Policy and guiding frameworks

9

3.

THE IMPACT CASE FOR CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

12

4.

CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

14

		

5.

4.1

Care Entrepreneurship landscaping study

14

4.2

Employer-supported care and childcare enterprises

19

THE UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR		Results of the Care Accelerator
6.

22
25

IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM
Why and how to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem for childcare		30

Entrepreneurial ecosystem players: opportunities andresponsibilities
7.

32

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSPAGE 236

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is authored by UN Women Asia and the Pacific incollaboration with Bopinc, Seedstars and Equalis as part ofWeEmpowerAsia (WEA), a programme funded by and in partnershipwith the European Union that is working to increase the number ofwomen who lead and participate in business.

This paper contributes to the broader Global Action
Research Programme: Transforming the Care Economy
through Impact businesses and Investment (TCEII),
which aims to help transform the care economy throughimpact investing. The programme is co-funded by theInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC)
and the Soros Economic Development Fund. As part of
TCEII’s implementation in Asia, UN Women and Valuefor Women will continue to further research insights andrecommendations gathered through this paper.
As UN Women’s partner and donor, the EU has highlighted
the importance of women’s economic empowerment anda more equal sharing of care responsibilities. In its Gender
Equality Strategy 2020-2025, it states that: “women andmen in all their diversity should have equal opportunities
to thrive and be economically independent; womenand men should equally share caring and financial
responsibilities.”
This paper aims to contribute to this goal. We are gratefulto the authors Katja Freiwald, Women’s Economic
Empowerment and Migration Lead with UN Women Asiaand the Pacific, Amy Baum, International Consultant,Anuradha Mundkur of Equalis, Emily Brearley, Gender
Economist, and to the many participating care enterprisesin the UN Women Care Accelerator, mentors, experts andpeer reviewers who shared their insights.

PAGE 3

THE THINK PIECE IN SHORTTHE THINK PIECE IN SHORTThe impacts of crises are never gender-neutral, and COVID-19 is no exception:
UN Women has documented in real time1 how the pandemic is rolling back decades ofhard-won socio-economic gains.
While everyone is facing unprecedented challenges, womenare bearing the brunt of the economic and social fallout of
COVID-19.2 Across the globe, in economies of every size,
existing gender inequalities and socio-economic barriers
have only been exacerbated. Along with losing income,women have carried the exponential burden of increased
unpaid care and domestic work.3 It is clear that action must
be taken now to stop this backsliding, ensuring women areboth the architects and beneficiaries of policies to build
back stronger and better.4
Crises can also spur a momentum for catalytic andpositive change—this has proved to be the case in termsof childcare in Asia and the Pacific. During the pandemic,
across the region governments, small businesses and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) had to scramble toaccommodate lockdown mandates. In so doing they also
created new partnerships, models, policies and practices
for sustainable and affordable childcare that allowed
parents to continue working, whilst knowing their children
were safe. More advocacy and awareness have beencreated about the importance of increased investments into
the childcare sector. In fact, the provision of accessible,
affordable and quality childcare provides what has beentermed a “triple dividend.”5 It can: improve female labour
force participation rates;6 enhance children’s educationand capabilities; and create decent jobs in the paid caresector in which women dominate. This is also a sector that
requires a labour-intensive, skilled workforce that cannot
by its nature be automated, and to date is predominantly
female.7 Thus a scaled childcare ecosystem resourced byfoundational investments could provide both quality jobs
and quality care for children, bringing exponential benefits
for families and the economy.8
Necessity can be the mother of invention. Even when
governments recognize the public value of childcare,budget constraints and different priorities have precluded
investments and limited the speed of delivery of childcare
services. This is where Childcare Entrepreneurship,
although in its early stages, can be one pathway to help
close the persistent supply-and-demand gap in the caresector.
The delivery of childcare services can be supported byseveral types of structures, including: blended finance  
between the public and private sectors; the creation of new
Care Entrepreneurship business models that leverage local
talent and provide community-specific, tailored solutions;and pioneering cross-over tech solutions from othersuccessful industries and impact investing spaces.

DEFINITION: CHILDCARE ENTERPRISE
A childcare enterprise here is taken to mean one that provides and/or facilitates paid childcare work. Such enterprises may provide avariety of products and services, including on-demand or centrebased childcare services for families and corporates. The products
and services provided reduce time and labour spent on unpaid careor provide training and decent work opportunities to professionalize
caregiving, thus enhancing the quality of childcare. Products
and services may also include technology and digitally enabled
platforms that, for example, provide secure matchmaking between
employers (including both corporates and private customers) andcare workers.

PAGE 4

Can inclusive Care
Entrepreneurship help
close gaps in childcare in
Asia and the Pacific?
This is the question at the centreof this Think Piece. Although theecosystem is nascent, and earlychildhood care and education are still
predominantly unpaid and carriedout in the home, there are somepromising models emerging in theregion that could be replicated andscaled to fill childcare gaps.

THINK PIECEThis would in turn contribute to efforts to rebuild economies,
and to reconsider the care economy as a public good witheconomic and social impact potential. Now is the time toseize the momentum, since never before has the problem
been so visible, and to so many. This is an opportunity toidentify challenges and opportunities and reach beyond theusual audience, to all the players in the ecosystem including
governments, businesses, care enterprises and investors.

More recently, the Generation Equality Action Coalition on
Economic Justice and Rights (AC EJR) convened by UN
Women includes as its vision “a care economy that equitably
shares and values care and domestic work.13” The AC EJR
has also established the Global Alliance for Care,14 which
can be a powerful vehicle also in Asia-Pacific to re-think
the care economy in a more holistic and multi-stakeholder
approach.

UN Women supports the creation of a dynamic Childcare
Entrepreneurship ecosystem with ever more stakeholders tospark new ideas, design pilot projects, and provide insights
into how to leverage and scale innovation to close the caregap. After all, the problem is so large that innovation is avital policy lever for governments to reverse the genderedeffects of Covid-19 and build resilient, inclusive economies
where women can equally participate.

This Think Piece is the first in a series on the careecosystem, to show how Childcare Entrepreneurship could
address gaps in the sector. It captures insights from various
case studies, an ecosystem landscaping exercise, employer
surveys, and a pilot programme: the UN Women Care
Accelerator (CA), which is funded by the European Union.15
The CA is a concept for Asia and the Pacific that illustrates
how an ecosystem approach can bolster Childcare
Entrepreneurship and strengthen market-based solutions
to provide affordable, accessible and quality childcare.
We hope it sparks new ideas, encourages new actors tocontribute to the Care Entrepreneurship ecosystem, andhelps produce solutions that respond to a vital and as yet
unmet need, and in turn unleash the opportunity of Care
Entrepreneurship to accelerate yielding the triple dividendof childcare for economies and societies in Asia and thePacific.

The Think Piece is grounded in existing policy andguiding frameworks, namely:Ä Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5,
which calls for the recognition and valuing of
unpaid care and domestic work through public
services, infrastructure and social protection
policies, and the promotion of shared
responsibility within the household and thefamily as nationally appropriate (target 5.4);9Ä The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
and the Decent Work Agenda, which includes
commitments to acknowledge and resolve thechallenges of providing formal, quality careservices;10
Ä The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panelon Women’s Economic Empowerment, whichstates that providing care is fundamental tohuman development;11
Ä And the International Labour Organization’s(ILO) 5R Framework for Decent Care Work,
which maps out a high road for care work withgender equality.12
1
2
3
4
5
6

7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

While the CA is a first-of-its-kind programme in Asia andthe Pacific, the number of care entrepreneurs is increasingaround the globe and more efforts are being made to makethese solutions visible. In 2022, as part of the global TCEII
research initiative, 175 businesses with promising models
operating in the care economy were researched anddocumented on the Care Economy Knowledge Hub.16

In Conclusion:
Care Entrepreneurship can be one pathway to address
gaps in the childcare sector in Asia and the Pacific. In fact,
the business case for investing in affordable, accessible
and quality Childcare Entrepreneurship solutions is prowomen, pro-children and pro-poor. However, the Think
Piece also shines a light on the urgency of collective action
and investments to ensure a concerted implementation thatemphasizes the benefits and minimizes the risks involved insome Care Entrepreneurship solutions.

UN Women (Jul. 2020). Unlocking the lockdown: The gendered effects of COVID-19 on achieving the SDGS in Asia and the Pacific. Link: https://data.unwomen.org/publications/unlocking-lockdown-gendered-effects-covid-19-achieving-sdgs-asia-and-pacific
UN Women (Sep. 2020). COVID-19 and its economic toll on women: The story behind the numbers. Link: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/feature-covid-19economic-impacts-on-women
UN Women (2020). Asia and The Pacific Gender Outlook. Link: https://data.unwomen.org/publications/Asia and the Pacific-gender-outlook
UN Women (2020). From insights to action: Gender equality in the wake of COVID-19. Link: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/09/gender-equality-inthe-wake-of-covid-19https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/09/gender-equality-in-the-wake-of-covid-19
UNICEF (Jun. 2021). Where do rich countries stand on childcare?. Link: https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/1203-where-do-rich-countries-stand-on-childcare.html
Blau, F. & Kahn, L. (2013). Female Labor Supply: why is the United States falling behind? American Economic Review, 103(3). pp. 251-5.
Gathmann, C & Sass, B. (2018). “Taxing Childcare: Effects on Family Labor Supply and Children”. Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, 36(3) pp. 665-709
Mateo Diaz & M. Rodriguez-Charmussy, L. (2012). Childcare and women’s labour participation: evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean. IDB Technical Note 586.
Kashen, J. Potter, H. & Stettner, A. (2016). Quality Jobs, Quality Childcare. The case for a well-paid, diverse early education workforce. The Century Foundation. Link:
https://tcf.org/content/report/quality-jobs-quality-child-care/
World Bank (Dec. 2020). Better Jobs and Brighter Futures: Investing in Childcare to Build Human Capital. Link: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35062https://
openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/35062
UN n.d. Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Link: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5
UN n.d. Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Link: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Link to website: https://hlp-wee.unwomen.org/en
ILO (2018). Care and Care Jobs for the Future of Decent Work. Link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/
wcms_633135.pdf
UN Women (2021). Action Coalitions Global Action Plan. Link: https://forum.generationequality.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/UNW%20-%20GAP%20Report%20-%20EN.pdf
UN Women (Jun. 2021). Global Allaince for Care: an Urgent Call to Action. Link: https://forogeneracionigualdad.mx/7740-2/?lang=en
Seedstars, Bopinc and WeEmpowerAsia (23 Apr. 2021). UN Women launches new programme to foster women’s economic participation in the care industry (Blog Post).
UN Women. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2021/04/un-women-launches-new-programme-to-foster-womens-economic-participation-in-thecare-industry
The Care Economy Knowledge Hub. Link to website: https://www.the-care-economy-knowledge-hub.org/

PAGE 5

THE THINK PIECE IN SHORTTHINK PIECE INSIGHTS
We have argued that entrepreneurship is an
important lever to fill the childcare supply gap.
The way to do this is to build a holistic ecosystemthat can reap a triple dividend: increased female
labour-force participation; better early childhood
education quality; and an increased number

The following insights areintended to spark further
discussion
andcatalyse
actions to build the Childcare
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
in Asia and the Pacific:of quality jobs for women and women-led
companies.

1

Care Entrepreneurship can support ashift from unpaid to paid childcare that isaffordable, accessible and of high quality.

2Market-based solutions through Care
Entrepreneurship have the potential tocomplement and enhance the public provisionof care and/or support the delivery of publicsupported childcare.

3

Technology not only helps to fill information
gaps, but can be leveraged to provide othercomplementary services.
Like other online ‘labour’ platforms in the region(e.g., Gojek, Grab), online childcare businesses
have an important function as marketplaces
that match care workers with consumers more
quickly than conventional, offline platforms.

To build the new Childcare Entrepreneurship ecosystem,
foundational finance, capacity building and development are needed;
From ideation, incubation, to acceleration programmes supporting ecosystem building to co-develop integrated
approaches. Blended finance can mitigate the perceived risks of childcare businesses, which are not always
viewed as financially viable or interesting investments; furthermore, not all childcare businesses wish to be‘unicorns’—beyond equity financing, these businesses seek other forms of investment and non-financial support.

4

Models to reach the base of the pyramid market exist, but they are few and often informal.

5

Not all care enterprises are impact-driven
or gender-inclusive.

They tend to be run as micro-enterprises and receive limited financing. There are possibilities to grow thissegment through franchise models or models supported by NGOs and blended investment in ways that serve
low-income communities. More research is needed, including country-specifc studies, to identify existingmodels in other entrepreneurship ecosystems in Asian countries. Cross-sectoral learning can support efforts
to create new ideas that embrace a multi-stakeholder approach.

6Childcare enterprises in the region have
limited awareness of gender equality, andonly a few have policies and practices that
promote inclusive business conduct anddecent work opportunities. Further, many do
not yet consider themselves social-impact
businesses.

PAGE 6

Data is scarce.
Given the emergent nature of this space,
there is limited data available on the size of
the Childcare Entrepreneurship market; andwell-established data platforms, such as the
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) do not
capture such segmented data. Equally, no sexdisaggregated data is available on the ownershipof enterprises, nor is any other data on the size ofthese enterprises.

THINK PIECE

To build an inclusive Childcare Entrepreneurship ecosystem,
all players must contribute.

For governments
Ä Enable new delivery mechanisms for childcare entrepreneurs to close thegap between care supply and demandÄ Provide structural investments, blended finance, subsidies and/or (tax)incentives for employers to provide childcareÄ Strengthen legal protections for children, parents and employees
Ä Simplify business processes for care entrepreneurs
Ä Collect data on the hidden economic burden of childcare

For business corporations (employers)
Ä Learn the lessons of COVID-19 and embrace flexible, family-friendly
policies to increase productivity and retain workers
Ä Create partnerships with care enterprises to provide flexible on- andoffsite childcare solutions for employees

For (care) entrepreneursÄ Take advantage of the range of business models for childcare services:
From B2C (business-to-consumer), B2B (business-to-business) and B2G(business-to-government), there are now a range of approaches that can be
deployed and that offer business development opportunities
Ä Take advantage of digital and tech-enabled platforms to expand customer
base and make new solutions availableÄ Embrace impact-driven and gender-inclusive business approaches
Ä Look for entrepreneurship support programmes for knowledge exchange,
network building and access to investments

For investors and entrepreneurship organizations(including NGOs)Ä Remember that entrepreneurs need different kinds of support along the wayÄ Build ecosystem capacity on gender-smart practices and equality to make
Care Entrepreneurship a source of women’s empowerment for founders,
employees, and beneficiaries
Ä Leverage existing and established entrepreneurship support organizations
and raise awareness on the business and investment case in care

For donors, academics, civil society organizations (CSOs)
and NGOsÄ Investments in the care sector are pro-poor and pro-women, yet often stillrisky for private investors; donors can support blended-finance approaches
Ä Research must be laser-focused on what entrepreneurs really need andresearch needs to be gender-responsive
Ä Donors can invest to bring together different stakeholders to accelerate
efforts to build an inclusive Care Entrepreneurship ecosystem

PAGE 7

1. METHODOLOGY

1 METHODOLOGYThis Think Piece is informed by a number ofprimary data sources and expert interviews:
i.

Care Entrepreneurship landscaping study(undertaken by UN Women’s regional
programme WeEmpowerAsia)17
ii. WEA Employer Survey on childcareiii. The UN Women Care Accelerator (CA)18
iv. Rapid assessment of childcare andentrepreneurship policies by Equalis

The Landscaping Study (2021)

WEA Employer Survey (2021)

This involved desk research to shortlist existingcare enterprises, resulting in 81 child andelderly care organizations identified in Asia,
Europe and the US (66 per cent in Asia and thePacific). Eleven of these enterprises, mainly from
Asia and the Pacific, were interviewed to better
understand their successful business practices
and challenges.

UN Women conducted a digital employersupported care survey (Survey Monkey) aiming tounderstand current employer’s perceptions andhow they are willing to contribute to the provisionof affordable and qualitative childcare services
for their employees. The survey consisted of 30
questions (15-20 min estimated response time). In
total, 68 employers from 14 countries in Asia andthe Pacific participated. The countries with thehighest number of respondents were India (18),Indonesia (15), Malaysia (9) and Thailand (10).

The UN Women Care Accelerator (CA)(2021/2022)
The first UN Women Care Accelerator was an online-based
acceleration and support programme for businesses led
by or supporting women in the care industry. The teamcollected both qualitative and quantitative data throughout
the six-month period to gain information on the efficacy andkey features of the programme from participants, trainers
and other partners including investors and mentors. Someof the results from those early surveys are presented here,
but more data will be forthcoming as participants continue
to grow their businesses and represent a panel for further
study. In the near term, a deeper post-programme impact
survey is currently being conducted to better understand thedigital improvements made by participants.

17
18

Rapid Policy Assessment ofChildcare Entrepreneurship(2020-2021)
This rapid policy overview looked at careservice policies with a focus on childcare.
It examined the legislations andregulations governing the provision ofprivatized childcare (including licensing
and caregiving requirements and funding
modalities) in India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam.

We Empower Asia, UN Women. Link to website: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focus-areas/women-poverty-economics/weempowerasia
Seedstars, Bopinc and WeEmpowerAsia (23 Apr. 2021). UN Women launches new programme to foster women’s economic participation in the care industry (Blog Post).
UN Women. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/news-and-events/stories/2021/04/un-women-launches-new-programme-to-foster-womens-economic-participation-in-thecare-industry

PAGE 8

2. Definitions and Guiding Frameworks

2 DEFINITIONS AND GUIDINGFRAMEWORKS

2.1 Definitions

Ä Unpaid care and domestic work in this paper pertains to the direct care ofdependents/children, family members who are sick, older persons andpersons living with a disability–as well as indirect care tasks, such as cooking,cleaning, domestic work and the collection of fuelwood and water.19
Ä Childcare is one of these types of care, and here in this paper is often usedsynonymously with early childhood care and education (ECCE).20
Ä A childcare enterprise here is taken to mean one that provides and/or
facilitates paid childcare work. Such enterprises may provide a variety of
products and services, including on-demand or centre-based childcare
services for families and corporates (employers). The products and services
provided reduce time and labour spent on unpaid care, or provide training
and decent work opportunities to professionalize caregiving and thus
enhance the quality of childcare. Products and services may also include
technology and digital enabled platforms that, for example, provide secure
matchmaking between employers including both corporate and private
customers and care workers.
Ä The care economy is defined as paid and unpaid labour that provides carein all its forms, including cooking, washing, cleaning, or taking care offamily members, including children, the elderly, and those who are ill or
have disabilities. Paid care work and unpaid caregiving are both invisible—
in that they don’t often appear in national statistical measurements likegross domestic product (GDP); and undervalued—in that they are often not
remunerated.21

2.2 Policy andguiding
frameworks

19
20
21

The policy groundwork for the paper lies in the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG-5; the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic
Empowerment, and other coalitions and norms formulated by the international
community (see table 1 below)). The ILO’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Workis grounded in the understanding that care work is not only vital to humanity andto economies but also, that quality care is at the heart of development in terms ofhealth, education, economic growth, gender equality and well-being. As such; it isvital that the redistribution of unpaid care work is shifted to remunerated services,
especially since this sector is an important source of employment for women.

UNESCAP, ASEAN (Oct. 2021). Addressing Unpaid Care Work in ASEAN. Link: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2021/addressing-unpaid-care-work-aseanf
UNESCO (Mar. 2020). Strengthening Costing and Financing of SDG 4.2 in the Asia-Pacific Region. Link: https://bangkok.unesco.org/content/strengthening-costing-andfinancing-sdg-42-asia-pacific-region#:~:text=Strengthening%20Costing%20and%20Financing%20of%20SDG%204.2%20in%20the%20Asia%2DPacific%20Region,-10%20
Mar%202020&text=The%20object%20is%20to%20equip,and%20compulsory%20pre%2Dprimary%20education.
The Care Economy Knowledge Hub. Link to website: https://www.the-care-economy-knowledge-hub.org/

PAGE 9

2. DEFINITIONS AND GUIDING FRAMEWORKS

The ILO’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work 22
Main policy areas

Care policies

Policy recommendations Policy measures

Recognize,
reduce andredistributeunpaid care work

• Measure all forms of care work and take unpaid
care work into account in decision-making• Invest in quality care services, care policies andcare-relevant infrastructure• Promote active labour market policies that
support the attachment, reintegration andprogress of unpaid carers into the labour force• Enact and implement family-friendly working
arrangements for all workers• Promote information and education for moregender-equal households, workplaces andsocieties• Guarantee the right to universal access to quality
care services• Ensure care-friendly and gender-responsivesocial protection systems, including floors• Implement gender-responsive and publicly
funded leave policies for all women and men

Reward:More anddecent work forcare workers• Regulate and implement decent terms andconditions of employment and achieve equal pay
for work of equal value for all care workers• Ensure a safe, attractive and stimulating work
environment for both women and men care
workers• Enact laws and implement measures to protect
migrant care workers

Representation,social dialogue
and collective
bargaining
for care workers• Ensure women’s full and effective participationand equal opportunities for leadership at alllevels of decision-making in political, economic
and public life
• Promote freedom of association for care workers
and employers• Promote social dialogue and strengthen the rightto collective bargaining in care sectors• Promote the building of alliances between tradeunions representing care workers and civil society
organizations representing care recipients andunpaid carers

Macroeconomic
policies

Socialprotection
policies

Labourpolicies

Migration
policies

PAGE 10

THINK PIECE

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5,
Target 4

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted at
the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in September
2015. SDG 5 calls for the recognition and valuing of unpaid careand domestic work through public services, infrastructureand social protection policies, and the promotion of shared
responsibility within the household and the family as
nationally appropriate (Target 5.4).23 In addition, Target 4.2
states, “by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have accessto quality early childhood development, care and pre-primaryeducation so that they are ready for primary education”.
Accordingly, a Framework for Action was established, which
includes strategies aimed at achieving the target of “putting
in place integrated and inclusive policies and legislation thatguarantee the provision of at least one year of compulsory andfree quality pre-primary education, paying special attention
on reaching the poorest and most disadvantaged children
through ECCE services”.

Addressing the skewed care burden has been
identified as a key priority, and resulted in the
launch of the Global Alliance for Care,24 an
initiative launched by the National Institute of
Women in Mexico in alliance with UN Women
to address the burden of care that hinders
economic opportunities for women. It seeks
to reduce inequalities and promote a culturaltransformation by guaranteeing the recognition,
reduction, remuneration and redistributionof domestic and care work among every coresponsible actor.

22
23
24

ILO (2018). Care work and Care Jobs: For the Future of Decent Work. Link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/
wcms_633135.pdf
UN n.d. Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Link: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
UN Women (Jun. 2021). Global Allaince for Care: an Urgent Call to Action. Link: https://forogeneracionigualdad.mx/7740-2/?lang=en

PAGE 11

3. THE IMPACT CASE FOR CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

3 THE IMPACT CASE FOR CHILDCAREENTREPRENEURSHIP

Childcare Entrepreneurship can ignite
the sector with fresh ideas...
Ä to improve the range of and quality of care services
through competition and innovation;
Ä to bring down costs to serve low-income orgeographically diverse populations;Ä to increase the size of the sector and the economic valueof care work;Ä to generate new kinds of jobs especially for women;
and business opportunities for women-led and run
companies; andÄ to provide solutions for company-sponsored childcare

The childcare ecosystem can be visualised as a continuum with the informal provision of care at one end (unpaid careprovided by family, close relatives, friends and neighbours, or independent low-paid care workers hired on an ad-hoc basiswith no protection); towards more decent work opportunities and/or formalized care employment at the other end.

Childcare Entrepreneurship - one pathway toquality, affordable and accessible childcare
UNPAIDCARE WORK
Informalchildcare

PAID RECOGNIZEDCARE WORK
Care
Entrepreneurship

Formal Provisionof quality, accessible andaffordable childcare:

unpaid, unregulated,burden on womenand low educational
outcomes forchildren...

quality Early Childhood
Education (ECE), skilled
and well-paid jobs forproviders

Ecosystem Approach:• Enabling regulation• Public subsidies• Public-private partnerships• Investment & business development for entrepreneurs

Source: UN Women

PAGE 12

UN Women advocates for the
principle of state responsibility
for social protection policy
and implementation and also
recognises the opportunity forChildcare Entrepreneurship as avital option to fill supply gaps andmove childcare along the route tomore decent work opportunities
and formality in the care sector.
When childcare services are notsufficiently provided by the public
sector, demand for care services
does not disappear.
Provisionofservicesby,forexample,theprivatesector can therefore   provide
complementary
opportunities
in building up a dynamic andeffective ecosystem that canensure the delivery of accessible,
qualityandcost-effective
childcare.

THINK PIECEThe McKinsey Global Institute calculates that reaching gender parity could boost the collective GDP of the Asia andPacific region by $4.5 trillion annually by 2025.25 The provision of childcare is positively correlated with female labour-force
participation and empowerment. In fact, the business case for childcare is so strong that the absence of supply can only
be viewed as a market failure,26 one that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. The evidence presented shows thatwomen in Asia and the Pacific have been more likely to face reduced work hours due to lockdowns and have borne the bruntof increased unpaid domestic work.27
Childcare Entrepreneurship is pro-women, pro-children, and achieves a triple dividend, as explained below.28 It is estimatedthat the expanded provision of childcare infrastructure in Asia and the Pacific could create an additional 182 million jobs by2030,29 many of them for women.30 Proportionately, low- and lower-middle-income countries stand to benefit the most fromexpanded childcare ecosystems, since on average, women workers’ incomes double when they have access to childcare.31
Formalized childcare ecosystems not only release women from unpaid care duties, they can also achieve: greater economies
of scale and efficiency; early childhood learning outcomes; economic growth;32 and the creation of employment opportunities
for women.
To achieve the triple dividend governments must createa policy environment that incentivizes private sector
innovation and entrepreneurial creativity. The following
sections in the piece outline interesting developments
across Asia and the Pacific to build this ecosystem, including
early insights from the UN Women Care Accelerator, whichaims to identify and promote women-led and/or womenimpacting enterprises to build childcare businesses.

Women’s labor force
participation increases

The Triple
Dividend ofChildcare
The qualityof early
childhoodeducation
Increases

The numberof quality jobs
for women andwomen-ledcompanies
increases

The goals of the UN Women
Care Accelerator are to:Ä Take a first step towards building a Childcare Entrepreneurship ecosystem to improve accessibility, affordability
and quality of childcare;Ä Provide gender-inclusive access to finance, networks and capacity building;Ä Raise awareness of the broader market potential in the care economy;
Ä Influence and build interest of the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem in the care economy;Ä Build more sustainable childcare business models that are gender-inclusive;

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

McKinsey (Apr. 2018). The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in Asia Pacific. Link: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/the-power-of-parityadvancing-womens-equality-in-asia-pacific
Institute of Developmental Studies (Oct. 2022). Towards Gender Equality with Care-sensitive Social Protection. Link: https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/towards-gender-equalitywith-care-sensitive-social-protection/
ADB, UN Women (2022). TWO YEARS ON: The lingering gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and the Pacific. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digitallibrary/publications/2022/06/two-years-on
UN Women (2015). Gender equality, child development and job creation: How to reap the ‘triple dividend’ from early childhood education and care services. Link: https://www.
unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/12/gender-equality-child-development-job-creation
ILO (2018). Care work and Care Jobs: For the Future of Decent Work. Link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/
wcms_633135.pdf
The World Bank (2020) Better Jobs and Brighter Futures: Investing in Childcare to Build Human Capital. Link: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/
handle/10986/35062/Better-Jobs-and-Brighter-Futures-Investing-in-Childcare-to-Build-Human-Capital.pdf?sequence
Blau, F., Kahn, L. (2013). Female Labor Supply: Why is the United States falling behind?. American Economic Review. 103 (3). pp. 251-56.
Gathmann, C., Sass, B. (2018). Taxing Childcare: Effects on Family Labor Supply and Children. Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press. 36(3). pp. 665-709.
UNESCAP, ASEAN (October 2021). Addressing Unpaid Care Work in ASEAN. Link: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2021/addressing-unpaid-care-work-asean

PAGE 13

4. CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

4 CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIPIN ASIA AND THE PACIFICThe Childcare Entrepreneurship ecosystemshifted into overdrive during the pandemic, ascompanies and small businesses scrambled tocome up with creative solutions to pressing andever-changing care needs.
Across the board, companies made technological advances
in a matter of months that previously would have taken
years—and childcare was no exception. To capture thisinnovation and give a bird’s-eye view of the ecosystem,          UN Women conducted several mixed-method studies thatare presented in this section.

4.1 Care Entrepreneurshiplandscaping study
The landscaping study involved desk research toshortlist existing care enterprises, resulting in 81
childcare organizations identified, majorly in Asiaand the Pacific (66 per cent) with a few examples
from Europe and other regions . Eleven of theenterprises from the region were interviewed tobetter understand their business practices,
opportunities and challenges.

“Our initial research has shown an
emergence of innovative businessmodels that can (partly) address
unpaid care work. Acceleration
through financial support and training
is required to ensure they can growand be replicated. UN Women’s Care
Accelerator is a great opportunity tobring entrepreneurs together andjointly scale entrepreneurial solutions
to unpaid care work.”— Emile Schmitz, BOP Inc
Managing Director.

EMERGING BUSINESS MODELS FOR ADDRESSING UNPAIDCARE WORK
BUSINESS TO
CONSUMER(B2C)
MID TO HIGHINCOME
CUSTOMERS

BUSINESS TO
GOVERNMENT(B2G)

Onlinereservation
systems

Care education
modelsLOW-INCOME
CUSTOMERS

BUSINESS TO
BUSINESS(B2B)

CooperativemodelsEmployercareHome-basedcare models

Carecertification
models

These models serve different
customers, with a large
difference noted for low-income
families who have a harder
time accessing any type offormal care. The predominantmodel is B2C, followed by B2B;
however in practice, it wasnoted that there is actually a lotof overlap between these typesof models. This feature willcontinue to shift as the nascentchildcare sector expands andis impacted by government
legislation,differentiatedsources of funding, andincreased employer-provided
childcare benefits.
Source: UN Women

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THINK PIECE

Using a matrix to visualise the different childcare enterprisemodels, the landscaping study distinguishes between
services provided at home and services provided in anotherlocation on the x-axis. The y-axis differentiates between
care-enterprise models focused on improving the qualityof direct care and those more focussed on access to directcare. The blue icon indicates care enterprise models using

CHILDREN

Care at home
Online babysitter reservation system

ThailandProfitIndonesia
ProfitMalaysia
ProfitMalaysia
Profittechnology as a core part of their service delivery (e.g.,
websites, apps, video calling, monitoring or robots), which
often means using tech-based platforms to connect care
workers and employers. The landscaping study identified 22
different care enterprise models across the childcare andelderly care sector.

Care at other locations

Day care centers

GlobalNon-profit

ThailandProfitUSA
ProfitNetherlands
Non-profit
China,
Vietnam,Mongolia
Non-profit

Netherlands
ProfitSouth Africa
ProfitAccess to direct care

Kenya
ProfitIndonesia
ProfitMalaysia
ProfitChina
ProfitEuropeProfitNetherlands
ProfitChina
ProfitThailandProfitGlobalProfitPakistan
ProfitThailandProfitDaycare linked toschools

India
ProfitChina, Vietnam,
Mongolia
Non-profit

Malaysia
ProfitKenya
ProfitQuality of direct care

Pakistan
ProfitCare education and certification
Kenya
ProfitIndia
ProfitSpain
ProfitKid camps / activity
organizations

ThailandProfitMalaysia
ProfitKenya
Profit

Italy
ProfitNetherlands
ProfitIndia
ProfitGlobalNon-profit

UK
ProfitThailandProfitIndia
ProfitUSA
ProfitGermany
ProfitNetherlands
ProfitEmployer care

USA
ProfitMicro-entrepreneurs

Co-working spacewith childcare
services

Home-based care

Cooperative daycare
modelsPhilippines
Non-profit
USA
ProfitIndia
Non-profit
Netherlands
ProfitGlobalNon-profit‘Peace of mind’ models
Malaysia
ProfitIndia
ProfitPakistan
ProfitChina, Vietnam,
Mongolia
Non-profit

GlobalGlobal-profit

Tech-based

PAGE 15

CanadaProfitNetherlands
ProfitHongkong
Profit4. CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Types of childcare business models in Asia and the Pacific
Business model #1:
Online reservation platforms
While traditional brick-and-mortar services continue to proliferate, COVID-19 lockdowns haveencouraged care enterprises to look at online models to connect directly with consumers (B2C). Careenterprises use an online platform or app to match care workers with families seeking at-home childcare
services. These enterprises often perform security checks on the care workers, and families can request
an interview before the final match. These care enterprises either employ their workers directly, or workwith freelance care workers. The market for these services tends to be middle- to high-income families,
mainly in urban areas.
While some of these care enterprises are solely focused on matching care workers with clients, some are
expanding their business models. In addition to connecting care workers with clients, some enterprises
also train care workers. Others are addressing safety concerns by arranging transportation for workers
from their homes to their place of work or using a safety feature on their apps that care workers canactivate if they feel unsafe, which directly connects them with the police.

B2C: Examples from the region
Ä Kiddocare in Malaysia uses an app to connect parents with babysitters. Their platform also uses data andartificial intelligence (AI) technology to personalize the support required. One of the main value propositions
is providing a better quality of care by offering care workers opportunities to upskill through training. At thesame time the company’s digital performance rating system allows the care workers on their platform toearn benefits, such as for example increased contributions to pension funds. To protect care workers, theKiddocare App has also developed ”safety emergency” buttons connected to direct support services (e.g.,
police). In another great example of entrepreneurs’ agility and innovation abilities during the pandemic, thebusiness expanded its solutions to meet the increased demand for flexible, part-time care support services,supported the provision of childcare services to frontline healthcare workers, and re-skilled women in
impacted sectors, such as tourism, to become care workers.

Ä Nannyz.com in Singapore is a website that helps families find childcare professionals. One of the uniquefeatures is a nanny map for an easy location-based care worker search. Its payment model differs from similar
enterprises as it uses a pay-as-you-go model, where customers and care workers pay to access contact
information. Nannyz.com includes an important feature of vetting and IP-address checks of its users.

Ä Kiidu in Thailand is a reservation platform that also offers training for their care workers. They have an

extremely user-friendly interface that supports short-term and long-term care-giving service bookings. Care
workers have personal profiles, including videos and descriptions of their skills and child-minding styles.
This outsources the matching accuracy onto the customer without the need for complex AI algorithms, andincreases match satisfaction.

Ä JobNukkad in India has moved its marketplace from being offline to online, making it easier for care

workers to promote their services. Instead of physically searching for suitable vacancies, care workers can
now use the online job board to find employment quickly. The online reservation tools help customers bookservices, including at short notice. The platform is designed in a way that low-income care workers can send
an SMS expressing interest in finding work. JobNukkad then responds without charging the care workers.
This allows them to minimize costs and risks in searching for work.

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THINK PIECE

Business models #2 and #3:
Home- and community-based care models
We consider these two business models together, since they both work with a blended approachto providing services at home or in communities. They are also centred around working closely incommunities; most often, these care enterprises service families in low-income communities, charging
low fees (if at all) to ensure affordability. Some of these entrepreneurs expand this reach to provide
services to corporations that support employees who have caring responsibilities. The business models
range from externally funded non-profits, to blended models that combine external funding with low
fees, to for-profit franchise business models.

Home- and community-based care models:
Examples from the regionÄ OneSky in Viet Nam33 is an entirely not-for-profit enterprise dependent on external funding from corporate
donors, private foundations and individual donors. OneSky supports home-based care entrepreneurs close
to industrial zones who take care of children of, for example, migrant workers, by providing training andeducation on caregiving and setting up an enterprise. In addition to training care workers, OneSky supports
parents with parenting skills and early childhood development training. At the invitation of the Vietnamese
Government, OneSky’s Home-based Care Provider training is being introduced in 16 Vietnamese provinces
over the next several years.

Ä SEWA in India34 is an example of a care enterprise that combines both home-based and community-basedcare models; it is a blended finance model. As a well-established cooperative, it provides childcare services
for families in low-income communities, charging low fees to ensure affordability. SEWA is still dependent on
external funding from donors, corporate sponsorships and government grants to cover its costs. SEWA also
receives contributions in cash and in-kind donations from local businesses and other community members,
particularly on special occasions such as festivals, birthdays and anniversaries, which contribute to covering
their costs.

Business model #4:
Employer-supported care provision models
Some governments in Asia and the Pacific are mandating employers to provide childcare. Some
corporates have stepped up to deliver on these mandates.35 They provide on-site services or outsource
service provision to local day-care centres. Childcare entrepreneurs have seen the potential of providing
services directly to such businesses (B2B). Some childcare enterprises partner with companies to operate
on-site employer day-care centres; others use an online care reservation system that offers employers
childcare vouchers, subsidies, or reserved places or subscriptions for their employees. Home-basedcare entrepreneurs are setting up their businesses near offices where employees can drop off theirchildren before work. There is currently only a limited number of such partnerships or more formalized
models. There are still gaps in our understanding of how these models work, especially regarding costs
and fees. What we do know is that services offered by these childcare entrepreneurs are subsidised.
In some countries, governments provide subsidies to employers to support childcare; in other cases,
corporates provide them.

33
34
35

OneSky. Link to website: https://aws-test.onesky.org/
SEWA. Link to website: https://www.sewa.org/
Note: there is extensive research that employer-provided care can help with employee satisfaction, productivity and retention rates.
International Finance Corporation (Sept. 2017). Tackling Childcare: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare. Link: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_
content/ifc_external_corporate_site/gender+at+ifc/resources/tackling+childcare+report t

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4. CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Business model #5:
Care education and certification models (B2B and/or B2G)
Childcare entrepreneurs have also stepped in to fill the gap in training and certifying care workers
and therefore serving new markets, such as B2G. This type of model contributes to increasing andstandardising the quality of care services, and has the potential to support other childcare models wehave discussed. It is an essential example of the complementary business solutions needed to contributeto a fully functioning care economy. Most childcare services do not offer training or skills development
programmes for their care workers. Some childcare enterprises have developed in-house training,education and certification schemes alongside their regular childcare services. There are also careenterprises that specialise in upskilling care workers. Some childcare centres have teamed up withthese specialized childcare training enterprises to upskill their staff.

B2B or B2G models from the region
TiTLi in India36 is a government-funded teacher training and upskilling institute, aimed at the workers who staff  Anganwadi, the Indian Government’s nutrition and childcare centres. It provides training to upskill Anganwadi
workers to provide non-formal pre-school education to children aged 2–5 years. The curriculum developed by TiTLi
is accredited by 10 state governments, and TiTLi is working to make its curriculum accessible beyond Anganwadi
workers. The increased skills of care workers have the potential to translate into improved educational outcomesfor children. To date, more than 750 educators have been trained under the programme, potentially reaching themore than 5,000 children that they work with.

TiTLi CEO Pranjal Modi says, “Technology has made significant in-roads in the care ecosystem, helping caregivers
build capacities and access clients remotely. We are rolling out WhatsApp Chat Bot and IVRS-based [interactive
voice response system] interventions for reaching out to children in the remote areas of India who may or may nothave access to the internet assuming that the IVRS system does not require internet connection as a Whatsapp
Chat Bot proably does. We are also incentivizing innovation at the grassroots levels and rewarding front-line
workers and cluster coordinators for suggesting and implementing innovative solutions in their areas.”

36

Titli. Link to website: https://titli.co

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THINK PIECE

Key takeaways from the landscaping study:

1

There are a variety of models, most focused on B2C.
Market-based solutions through Care Entrepreneurship have thepotential to complement and enhance the public provision of careand/or support the delivery of public-supported childcare.

2

Existing primarily cater to urban-based customers, particularly in the caseof online platforms.
A corollary is that minimal models serve low-income communities and families (base of the pyramid). Moreevidence is needed to back up this observation as our finding could be an artifice produced by the research
design (i.e., regional focus, and primarily based on interviews with English-speaking care entrepreneurs).

3

Industry learning and knowledge sharing is important.
A few companies mentioned that they are lacking more profound industry knowledge and that they have alimited understanding of how to strengthen the social impact of their enterprises. Many do not yet seemto be aware to position their enterprises as impact ventures, or even aware of the possibility, which would
enable them to tap into different financial resources.

4.2 Employer-supported care and childcare enterprises

Enhanced corporate
reputation

Recruitment
and retention

Improved
employeerelations

The business casefor employersupported
childcare

Regulatorycompliance

Increased
productivity

Adapted by UN Women from IFC (2021)
37
38

Employer-supported childcare has many
tangible benefits. The provision of childcare cancontribute to the development and wellbeing ofyoung children, enable women’s participation in
paid work, and advance gender equality while
increasing business profitability and improving
the socio-economic status of communities.37
In Asia and the Pacific, only a few countries,
for example India, have to date mandated that
employers provide childcare. A roundtablediscussion in Malaysia with employers foundthat while maternity and paternity leave policies
have improved considerably over the past few
years, and employers in Malaysia provide anassortment of benefits to support workers
flexibility with extra care leave etc., more needs
to be done by governments to incentivize and/or
support employers to provide flexible employersupported care models.38 Governments should
therefore consider providing tax exemptions
or mandates to share this cost and drive
innovation.

International Finance Corporation (Nov. 2019). Tackling Childcare: A guide for employer-supported childcare. Link: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/da7fbf72-e4d9-4334955f-671a104877a7/201911-A-guide-for-%20employer-supported-childcare.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=mVHadh3
Panel participants at the Malaysian Round Table organized by UN Women and LeadWomen in Dec. 2021

PAGE 19

4. CHILDCARE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Findings of a 2021 survey conducted by UN Women in
Asia and the Pacific confirmed that investing in employersupported childcare increased loyalty, employee satisfaction
and productivity. In supporting their employees to meet theirchildcare needs, employers benefit too. Investing in the
wellbeing and productivity of working parents can contributeto building and retaining a more resilient and skilledworkforce, ensure business sustainability and enable lasting
recovery post-COVID-19. Employers with childcare services
and policies, such as paid parental or family leave andflexible work arrangements, allowing employees to manage
unpaid family and household care responsibilities, may findit easier to attract and retain workers. Besides, childcare canpromote women’s career advancement, improve diversity,and potentially enhance financial performance   vis-à-vis
competitors. Also, employers who take a holistic view ofworkers’ lives, including their caregiving responsibilities,
and who help address aspects that cause employee
distraction, fatigue and absenteeism, can improve theirworkforce’s performance and engagement. 37

WEA Employer Survey, 2021 39
Top reasons employers
provide childcare:increases employee
72% Itsatisfaction
andretention

63%

It increases employee
productivity and loyaty

50%

It is aligned withcompany values

Types of services
employers want:i.

flexible childcare models
for fluctuating demandii.

high-quality, safe childcare
and education services

iii. cost-efficient models
iv. on-site, off-site & online
care matching services

Employer-supported childcare can take various forms,
and care entrepreneurs are well placed to offer theflexibility that employers need to serve the needs of theiremployees, including: i) on-site childcare centres (run by
the employer or a third party); ii) off- or near-site childcare
centres sponsored by one or more companies, includingin the communities where employees reside; iii) childcare
vouchers, subsidies, stipends, discounts, reserved seats or
subscriptions to online care platforms (such as Care.com,
UrbanSitter.com, Kiidu and Kiddocare; iv) back-up, afterhours, and sick-child services; and v) resource and referral
services.
A customer survey conducted by Kiddocare in Malaysia foundthat the needs of parents are changing, with a substantial
increase in the need for on-demand, flexible childcare since
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employers can also support childcare needs with familyfriendly policies40 such as: breastfeeding support; more
flexible work options that can include home-based work/
telecommuting/remote work; additional family leave(preferably paid); flexible hours/shifts; and reduced hours
or staggered start and finish times. Employers could evenconsider providing their existing childcare services freeof cost to essential workers, such as healthcare workers,
when allowed and feasible, which was a recognized practice
39
40
41

The survey also found that there
seems to be a preference for private
childcare provision over publicchildcare provision, on the basis that
it is more widely available and safer.
However, a majority of respondents
felt that privatized childcare is too
expensive for most of its employees
without
anysubsidies.
Thus,
employer-supported care services
could create a potential market forcare entrepreneurs with the rightincentives and government support.
This increased employer demand
can play a role in scaling up childcare
services by making them moreaccessible and affordable for theiremployees.

supported by governments during the pandemic. Careenterprises researched could provide solutions to deliver
such services to support employers in the provision ofchildcare.
The role of government is particularly important inencouraging employers to provide childcare. This can be
via various mechanisms including mandates, subsidies, or
public procurement calls. A good example of this in action isPakistan, where women do more than 90 per cent of the unpaid
care work and the female labour force participation rate is as
low as 23 per cent.41 Good quality, affordable childcare andsupport for working mothers are important to the country’ssocio-economic development and business productivity. To
encourage more companies to provide employer-supported
childcare, some provincial governments in Pakistan havemandated the implementation of family-friendly policies,
such as paid maternity and paternity leave, protection for
pregnant employees and employer-supported childcare.
Some companies have delivered on these mandates eventhough they are not monitored or enforced. Companies inPakistan that provide childcare services, such as Unilever,see the benefits to the business through less attrition andthe ability to retain their female workers.

UN Women WeEmpowerAsia (2021). Employer-Supported Care Survey with 11 corporates in Asia-Pacific.
UNICEF, ILO, UN Women (Mar. 2020). Family-friendly policies and other good practices in the context of COVID-19: Key steps employers can take. Link: https://www.unwomen.
org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/Library/Publications/2020/Family-friendly-policies-and-other-good-workplace-practices-in-the-context-of-COVID-19en.pdf
International Labor Organization (2019). The Unpaid Care Work and the Labor Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys.
Link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---gender/documents/publication/wcms_732791.pdf

PAGE 20

THINK PIECE

WHEN EMPLOYERS RESPOND TO GOVERNMENTMANDATES AND INCENTIVES;

EXAMPLES OF EMPLOYER-SUPPORTED
CHILDCARE ENTERPRISESIn response to the government of Pakistan’s policies, Unilever has
partnered with Catco Kids42 to provide onsite, bespoke childcare. The
programme’s cost is 50 per cent funded by Unilever, and is open to parentsof children aged 0–5 years who require childcare (including employedfathers whose wives do not have access to childcare where they work).
There is also an after-school facility for children aged 5–12 years. The
childcare services are available onsite at Unilever’s headquarters and next
to Unilever’s offices. Employees who use the facility have a NannyCam appon their mobile phones to continually monitor their children. Women canalso charge the cost of care to the company if they cannot use the childcare
facilities. With the workforce operating from home and the childcare facility
closed, Unilever Pakistan offered its employees flexible work arrangements
during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2017, India amended its Maternity Benefit Act requiring
employers with 50 or more employees to provide childcare.
This offers an opportunity for care business like Klay
Schools in India; hence it is no surprise that numerous wellestablished corporates in India are using their services.43
Klay Schools in India44 offers pre-school, day-care, special
education and day-care for corporates. All of its teachers
are women, and 40 per cent come from challenging
economic and social backgrounds. The teachers canbring their children to day-care at highly subsidised rates.
Klay Schools has 300 corporate clients, each with 50+
employees, accounting for 30–35 per cent of its income
stream. Corporates can choose from three different typesof childcare services:• Onsite/Near-site day-care is a facility for employees
set up inside the corporate premises.
• Shared services is a day-care facility run by Klay
Schools near the office, where most of the capacity
is blocked for the employees, and the rest is open to
outsiders.
• Underwriting/subsidised care enables corporates
to block a certain capacity or subsidise childcare for
employees at a specific centre or in centres acrossmultiple locations.

42
43
44

Based on an interview with Fatima Arshad, Sustainable Business Manager, Unilever Pakistan
Klay Schools. Link to website: https://www.klayschools.com/corporate/corporate-day-care/
Klay Schools. Link to website: https://www.klayschools.com/

PAGE 21

HiMama is a Canadian-based firm that
demonstrates how government subsidies can spurchildcare innovation. The company recently secured
a US$70 million investment to scale up its provisionof early childhood educators and affordable tools toimprove educational outcomes. The start-up offers
an app with everything from staff scheduling,daily reports, parental communication, payment
collection and education tools to early childhood
educators. Its products are used by more than 10,000
childcare centres in Canada and the US, with morethan 1 million parents on the platform. Foundedin 2013, the start-up ‘bootstrapped’ until it raised
US$7.5 million in 2019 and, in 2020, also silently
raised US$5 million from the Women in Tech fundof the Business Development Bank of Canada. The
US$70 million raised in 2021 will enable HiMama
to serve additional childcare centres in Canada
and the US to fuel further investments in productdevelopment. HiMama is just the latest company
jumping in the fintech trend. Investors are willingto make such significant investments in childcare
as they see the potential of this market growth withincreasing government investment.

5. THE UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR

5 UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR“It’s about time we recognize the important role care work plays in our society. We
must pay attention to the industry as a whole and empower entrepreneurs in the caresector by providing more growth opportunities. As a public-private sector partnership,
we should prioritize investment in care work for a more equal and gender-inclusive
economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.”— Anurag Maloo, Head of Partnerships(Asia-Pacific) at Seedstars

The UN Women Care Accelerator (here on referred to as the CA) is an online-based
acceleration and support programme for businesses led by or supporting womenin the care industry. The programme aimed to promote women-led and/or womenimpacting enterprises to build innovative solutions aiming to contribute to createbusiness, employment and income opportunities for women and other care workers
by supporting new, creative solutions in the care sector – thus turning the unequalcare burden put on women into opportunities that benefit women, families, andcommunities by providing products, services, or tech solutions that can make caremore accessible and affordable, and improve the overall quality of care services onand offline.
Over a period of six months from 1 June 2021, selected
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Asiaand the Pacific were provided with tailor-made training,paired with mentors and connected with potential investors,
partners and experts to develop and scale up their businessmodels. In addition to the business modules, the CA was
unique in offering a gender equity track that supported
participants to operate and grow as gender-inclusive
businesses. Programme participants consisted of: i) carebusinesses. led by women or benefitting women in the
Asia-Pacific region; ii) start-ups that aim to boost women’s
participation in the care economy, or provide products orservices, including child and elderly care, that make caremore accessible and affordable to all or improve the qualityof care; and, iii) enterprises that offer innovative ways tocreate a more gender-inclusive culture in the care industry
and promote an equal sharing of responsibilities between
men and women.
In this sense, the CA is more of a Care Entrepreneurship
impact accelerator. The CA experimented with how tobring together ecosystem players such as governments,
investors, customers and other ecosystem builders; but the
involvement of these actors varied at this early stage. Sucha care ecosystem programme has not existed before in Asiaand the Pacific.

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THINK PIECE

UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR SELECTED COMPANIESFrom the 144 CA applicants, 82 per cent were women-led business. From the 13 selected enterprises, eight
had a female founder or co-founder.

Collaboration partners and experts:
The CA is a UN Women initiative that leveraged UN Women’s
convening role and gender and inclusion expertise withbusiness and impact investment expertise. To achievethis, the CA worked with Seedstars, an investment
holding company that provides investments and businessdevelopment expertise to entrepreneurs. The CA also
partnered with social enterprise Bopinc, which focuseson serving populations at the bottom of the pyramid, witha thematic focus on creating training programmes thatbolster and build women’s entrepreneurship capabilities.
UN Women provided tailored gender expertise for theparticipating enterprises as they conducted rapid genderassessments of their business practises, reviewed theirpolicies and procedures within their business plans,and sought to explore the wider gender implications offormalized childcare companies. In addition, a variety ofother experts and mentors played an important role toensure representation from different ecosystem players. In
this first edition of the CA there was no active engagementof governments, yet policy experts were involved to ensure
recommendations and learnings were captured. UN Women
compiled initial data for future policy recommendations,client learning and identifying research gaps in the space.

PAGE 23

5. THE UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR

Piloting Innovation: An integrated three-track approach
Each of these tracks considered separately is a challenge as there are no standard best practices to inform what theyshould include or how they form a Care Entrepreneurship ecosystem. Taken together, they make this accelerator a uniqueexperimental venture that is able to test innovations and inclusive business practices.

Track 1

Ensure a gender-responsive approach to establish
and manage the Care Accelerator
The CA paid particular attention to integrating a gender lens into all aspects of the programme,from its management and content to the selection of partners, participating enterprises,
trainers and mentors. The WeRise Toolkit for Accelerators,45 co-created with entrepreneurs,
accelerators and finance experts from Asia and Europe, provides an excellent resource forcreating gender-smart acceleration programmes. As a result of these efforts, for example, 75
per cent of participating enterprises in the CA had female founders or co-founders.
Still, there is more to be done to involve more partners who possess the expertise to run
entrepreneurship programmes tailored to women and strengthen the engagement of  
investors with a gender-lens focus.

Track 2Business development and finance
To help entrepreneurs develop their business models, the CA modules included businessmodel reviews, product-market fit analysis, financial modelling, legal training, pitching andfundraising strategies. The inspiration for this track came from the standard acceleration
curriculum for early-stage start-ups. This track also focussed on working with potential
investors. The participants learned about funding opportunities, developed pitching narratives
and refined their funding strategies. They then had the opportunity to meet with 20 interested
investors. For most participants, this was their first-time pitch, yet some of the enterprises
have received already equity investments, signalling the business potential of care enterprises.

Track 3

Gender and inclusion
The aim here was to help enterprises assess the gender responsiveness of their current
business models across their entire operation. This included a gender self-assessmentaligned with the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) framework and a new WEPs
Assessment developed for SMEs as part of the WeRise Toolkit for Entrepreneurs (Tool 4: Be
an Inclusive Business, Be a WEPs Champion). This formed the base for developing a genderaction plan for their business, and receiving guidance and support for embracing more
inclusive business practices.

45

UN Women (2021). WeRise Toolkit for Accelerators. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/10/werise-toolkit-for-accelerators#view

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THINK PIECE

Results of the Care Accelerator
A few broader achievements of the CA should be highlighted.
First, the programme contributed to defining the careeconomy and making visible what has been invisible: namely
the opportunity that care entrepreneurs have to contributeto addressing unpaid care work and how this can help toachieve the triple dividend mentioned above. The CA also
helped to raise awareness of the broader issue of unpaid
care work, and to make care enterprises’ impact potential
better understood by entrepreneurs themselves and by  
wider ecosystem players, including investors, governments
and corporates (employers).
The programme contributed to re-thinking the care sector
towards developing a true impact economy. The focus onadvancing women’s entrepreneurship at large is worthy ofmention: Many entrepreneurship acceleration programmes
are gender-blind, and the CA’s gender-responsive approachcontributed to attracting more women-owned businesses
to participate and become a visible inspiration for existing
women entrepreneurs in  the care  economy,  and  potential

new start-ups to develop gender-sensitive new products
and services in the industry.
Finally, the CA has taken the first step towards building a
Care Entrepreneurship ecosystem. Such an ecosystem
programme did not exist before in Asia; it had to be built
from scratch through peer-to-peer discussion, mentoringby industry experts, and connecting care entrepreneurs
to broader ecosystem players, including investors. The
CA brought together initial players and contributed to
an increased awareness of the opportunities that Care
Entrepreneurship can bring to the region. Of note is thatduring the implementation of the CA, other care ecosystem
initiatives also began at the global level and in the region.
One example is the previously mentioned global research
project ‘Transforming the Care Economy through Impact
Investing,’ through which UN Women will undertake deeper
research with select CA participants.46

What Care Accelerator participants said:

92%

77%

54%

have improved their businessstrategy - from a strategy
change in one domain (suchas sales) to a major strategy
change encompassing thewhole company

have increased their sales,from first sales launch tomajor growth in paying
customers

have made significant
product improvements
and development

54%

54%

38%

have made successful
investor pitches (somefor the first time)

improved their metrics
measurement: todefine primary metrics
to implementationof a performancemeasurement system

improved marketing
activities and ran coremarketing campaigns

Source: UN Women CA Survey.
46

International Development Research Centre (January 2022). New action-research program seeks to transform the care economy. Link: https://www.idrc.ca/en/news/new-actionresearch-program-seeks-transform-care-economy

PAGE 25

5. THE UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATOR“Through the Care Accelerator I have beenconnected by UN Women with anotherentrepreneur with whom we are now
developing a new care solution especially
tailored to rural communities and offering
work opportunities for more women.”— TiTLi, India“The highlight of the
programme was theinteraction with investors.”— Bihani, Nepal“I liked the networking andmentoring opportunities.”— Mobiva, Malaysia“The Care Accelerator has enabled us
to meet other entrepreneurs, exchange
ideas and strategies. It helped us to rethink and speed-up our own businessdevelopment strategies.”— AYAT Care, Bangladesh

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THINK PIECE

Experiences from the Care Accelerator:
How enterprises innovated childcare solutions
during the pandemic
As schools and childcare facilities shut their doors
during region-wide lockdowns, parents were forced
to quickly pivot and find alternative solutions. As
the same time, childcare providers had to figure out
new business models to adapt to the new childcare
landscape, while also making sure that their care
workers were taking safety precautions. They became
known as essential workers since they had to be
in contact with others and did not have the luxury
of working from home. The care enterprises thatentered the Care Accelerator adopted a numberof strategies to ensure their continued survival; inparticular the use of online and technology solutions
enabling them to close information gaps, develop new
products and services and reach new clients. In fact,
half of the companies in the CA were classified as”
digitally enabled and/or platform businesses”, and theinvestors jury in the final pitching panel selected two ofthem as the most promising enterprises, emphasizingthat investments into care enterprises will be more
likely if they have strong digital strategies. Below wehighlight important experiences from our first CA
cohort.

Ä Kiddocare47 in Malaysia saw the pandemic as an opportunity to improve staff conditions via technologicalimprovements. Chief Executive Nadira Yusoff and her team want to create a circular economy where women
can be trained to work as professional childcare providers to support other women and their childcare
needs. This type of model aims to elevate the value of childcare workers in the economy with improved pay
and working conditions as a result. Kiddocare is leapfrogging in terms of technology to find the value-added
opportunities in professional childcare. According to Yusoff, the team is using an on-demand, online platform
to improve access and also provide a greater degree of safety and security of services. “Our model also uses
backend data and AI technology to personalize support required throughout the child’s development,” said
Yusoff.

Ä Nannyz.com48, a Singapore-based website, helps families find childcare professionals. During the

pandemic, the company’s revenue initially dropped by half as the government clamped down on foreign
domestic workers entering Singapore, along with social distancing and other restrictions. However, chief
executive Michael Tunstill decided to focus on fine-tuning the platform to restore and diversify revenues byadding features that provide better matching of care workers to employers as well as improving safety forusers.

Ä Alfiah Strohal, founder of Kiidu49, not only wanted to create a simpler and faster process of hiring

caregivers, but also wanted to ensure her staff had protected rights to fair pay and decent working conditions.
To achieve this, Alfiah focused on building up the marketable skills of her workforce.“Training is key toreducing many of the pain points between customers and caregivers, so we are focusing on skills, language
and labour rights training,” she said. “We empower our caregivers by offering training that betters theiropportunities to find the perfect job and helps them meet the parents’ and families’ expectations andstandards while protecting them from abuse, work overload and unpaid jobs.” Her team is also working on
educating caregivers on safety and hygiene and encouraging them to get vaccinated or go for regular testing,to ensure safety for them and the clients.

Ä Angels & I Children Daycare in Indonesia50 also used a technology platform to provide superior childcare

services. Chief executive Inna Widjajanti and her team changed their business model during the CA to be
more accessible to parents through the creation of a digital platform where parents can find a suitable nanny
according to the age and development level of the child. The nanny can also report the activities or progress/
milestones achieved daily, and parents can consult their children’s development through the app.

47
48

Kiddocare. Link to website: https://kiddocare.my/
Nannyz. Link to website: https://www.nannyz.com/

49
50

PAGE 27

Kiddu. Link to website: https://kiidu.com/
Angels & I Daycare. Link to website: http://aichildrencare.com

5. THE UN WOMEN CARE ACCELERATORThe CA brought to the fore the importance of collaboratingwith experts from different spheres to build a wellfunctioning ecosystem. At present there is a lack of awell-established, Childcare Entrepreneurship network
as in other impact areas. Many applicants had a minimal
understanding of the importance of addressing unpaid
care work and the broader social impact their enterprises
could have, especially to advance women’s economic
empowerment. The businesses in the CA also found it
useful to talk to their peers and understand the scope of
new goods and services or types of delivery—such as via
technology platforms. Keeping all the business experts
engaged in the ecosystem beyond accelerator programs will
require identifying what will motivate them to stay in the careecosystem after their mentorship or advisory engagement.
One option is promoting the care industry as a growing
market and a vibrant entrepreneurial community. Anotheroption is highlighting the impact it creates and the value of
their input.

‘Not every care enterprise needs to be a unicorn, we alsoneed zebras!’ So said one expert in the CA. This sums up
a wider reality that not all businesses need or want equity
investments. Many women entrepreneurs, especially thoserunning community-based Care Entrepreneurship models,
would prefer other forms of capital grounded more in thephilanthropic rather than venture capital markets. Equally,
debt, loans or blended finance should also be considered
to ensure that the services offered are not only financially
viable but accessible by the most vulnerable populations.
The gender equity track in the CA was successful because
several enterprises were surprised by how little they
understood this topic and how much there was still to
be done. The most frequently self-identified challenges by
the care enterprises to advance gender equality in theirbusiness were: the ability to design gender-responsive
marketing practices; the creation of a grievance mechanism
for reporting instances of sexual harassment of care workers
and mitigate risks for customers; and measurement ofprogress. In addition, some entrepreneurs changed theircommunications and advertising materials to promote equalcaregiving responsibilities between women and men within
the household.

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THINK PIECELESSONS FOR THE NEXTCARE ACCELERATOR

Ä Go local: The CA was a pilot project that was regional
by design. The next rounds should consider focusing
on individual countries to allow for the inclusion of
more community-based local models, to not limit
participation because of language barriers, and tobring in specific financial expertise.
Ä Choose more targeted approaches: The CA worked
with enterprises from different development stages(from very early stage to investable enterprises) andserved very different market segments. It will bebeneficial to have more tailored support dependingon the development stage of the enterprises and thesegments they are serving,Ä Provide tailored tech support: Many participants
expressed a desire to ramp up technical capacity toexpend their products and services. These skills are
best preserved locally and do not have to be caresector specific.
Ä Catalyse more long-term partnerships: Participants
started to informally network; and therefore structuraldesign to foster collaboration amongst enterprises andother ecosystem players would strengthen the impacts.
Ä Take a more systemic approach to the gender andinclusion track: Working in a more structured way with
CA enterprises would develop concrete approaches andprovide support to strengthen their business conduct
towards more inclusive approaches.
Ä Better understand the labour market in each country
beforehand to ensure safeguarding of workers' rights:
It is important to recognize that formalized work does
not necessarily equate to decent work.51 Care workers
are often not contracted as employees, with little to nosocial protection, and poor job security. It is importantthat future CAs understand and develop strategies tomitigate against this feature of the sector.
Ä Understand that clients do not always want betterqualified childcare workers: Try to promote models
that balance affordability and quality. There is a needto raise more awareness of the benefits of high-quality
care services to underscore the benefits to future
generations and equitable economic development.

51

Ä Diversify the investor base and involve them earlier
on in the CA, and help participants build their pitch: As
we mentioned earlier, not all childcare entrepreneurs
need equity investments, but all can benefit from an
investment strategy from the outset and guidance fromseasoned investors from other sectors.
Ä Explore co-design with governments as they embark
on their journey to make childcare a universal public
good: This could facilitate important learnings forgovernment officials as they build their care economy
policies and try to incentivize entrepreneurship.
Ä Build in research components: The CA demonstrated
that there are a lot of assumptions around childcare—oftentimes rooted in cultural narratives regarding whoshould look after children and why. Carefully designed
mixed-methods research can help entrepreneurs build
services for all types of women—from low-income
ones who need cheap options at the market, to workfrom-home mothers who do not want to have a double
burden.

ILO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Delveopment. Link for website: https://libguides.ilo.org/2030-agenda-en

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6. IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM - WHY AND HOW TO BUILD AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR CHILDCARE

6 IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM

Why and how to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem for childcare

Finance

Regulation(Governments,
private investors,
NGOs, multilateralorganisations )(Governments)

Childcareenterprises

Customers(Familes, corporateclients (employers),
government
contractors)“At a personal and visceral level, theinvisible is now visible as people felt
the impact of the care economy coming
undone – coming apart. It’s not ok tohave a core part of what makes the
economy tick not fully valued.”— Sana Kapadia,
GenderSmart Investing52

Entrepreneurial
support systems/
networks(Acceleration programmes,
incubators, mentors)

Around the world, governments havepledged to “build back better”: But what
does this mean for the care economy?
Many national governments in Asia andthe Pacific region have acted swiftly,
with policies that seek to regulate
childcare services and mandate theprivate sector to provide childcare
services for employees (e.g., in India,
Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore
and Viet Nam).52

Ibid.

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THINK PIECE

These policies have provided an impetus for larger
corporations to offer employer-supported childcare, andthere are also growing private financial investments in
education and childcare services.53 However, while many
countries in the region have put in place social insurance andsocial assistance programmes, with women as recipientsof cash transfers and social welfare measures, there is a
gap between the commitment to social protection policies
at an overall level and the actual reach of programmesthat recognize the care-differentiated needs of women.54
Furthermore it is important to note that, given the special
nature of the care sector, and childcare in particular,
governments have a crucial role to play in setting andmonitoring standards to ensure adequate protection forvulnerable populations.
However, addressing the huge gap between care provision
supply and demand requires a multi-stakeholder approachbeyond governments’ responsibilities. It offers an
opportunity for other actors to contribute. As demonstrated
in the previous chapters, care enterprises are such players.
All of this makes business sense:
Since the ever-increasing demand for childcare requires
action from all players, entrepreneurs can help spur
innovation and address the lack of services with creative
solutions. The increased demand for childcare and the gap
in supply is opening spaces for new players to step in toprovide solutions, and the care sector is ripe for innovationand change. There is no need to re-invent the wheel but
rather learn from the experience of other sectors.
It is well documented that entrepreneurs have stepped
in to address seemingly intractable social issues such as
the lack of quality education, waste disposal and recycling,
economic opportunities in low-income communities, andgreen climate solutions, to name just a few.55 Experiencefrom other sectors has demonstrated that private sector
enterprises often drive innovation. For example, climate
solutions such as solar cooking stoves, which addressed
persistent challenges for base of the pyramid populations,have inspired investments in climate entrepreneurshipecosystems that have focused on creating new and scaling
existing solutions. These investments have resulted in avariety of entrepreneurship accelerators and the set-up

53
53
55
56
57

of entire innovation ecosystems, such as the European
Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)'s Climate Kic
Programme. This is a knowledge and innovation community(KIC), working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon,
climate-resilient society by identifying and supporting
innovation that helps society mitigate and adapt to climatechange.56 There is a similar potential to transform thecare industry by applying an entrepreneurial ecosystemapproach.
An entrepreneurial ecosystem is a term that refers to acollective effort of many different participants towards
a common goal. This social and economic environment
is comprised of a set of interdependent actors andcoordinated policies and business relationships thatenable entrepreneurship.57 There are distinct advantages
to taking an ecosystem approach to solve complex supply
issues: When many actors are brought into an ecosystem,from public to private, from local to national, there is ahigher chance that supply will meet demand in innovative,
sustainable and affordable ways. Furthermore, childcare isa sector with unique transformational welfare impacts. Thismeans there is a vast potential to turn the ‘care economy’ intoa ‘care impact economy’, which has a positive empowering
impact on women, creates inclusive economic work andemployment opportunities, and ensures investment in thequality of childcare as a foundation for the development of
the next generation.
In an entrepreneurial ecosystem for childcare, different
actors would cooperate to bring a unique set of comparativeadvantages. Governments need to provide an enabling
policy environment. Investors must be willing to resource
their growth and expansion. Entrepreneurial support
networks and systems (e.g., accelerators) are needed tosupport business growth and development; families andother businesses must be willing to buy their services
and products. Industry experts must provide mentorship,and researchers can provide evidence for their businessmodels. Employers also have an important role to play, todeliver policies and practises to make childcare services
more accessible, affordable and of good quality for theiremployees. Finally, agencies like UN Women and othermultilateral organizations have a crucial role in convening
these actors in support of developing and strengthening thecare entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Education Matters (2017). Asia-Pacific Pre-Primary Education and Childcare Industry Outlook to 2017 - India and China to Lead Growth.
UNESCO (2016). Asia Pacific Report: Financing for ECCE. Link: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000245777
UNESCAP (Oct. 2021). Addressing Unpaid Carework in ASEAN. Link: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2021/addressing-unpaid-care-work-asean
UNCTAD (2017). Promoting Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: a Selection of Business Cases from the Empretec Network. Link: https://unctad.org/system/files/
official-document/diaeed2017d6_en.pdf
Climate-KIC, European Union (2022). Link to website: https://www.climate-kic.org/
Adapted from Tech Start-up School: Business Accelerator. Link to website: http://www.techstartupschool.com/news/entrepreneurship-ecosystem-and-its-elements.html

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6. IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM - WHY AND HOW TO BUILD AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR CHILDCARE

What steps can be taken to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem for childcare?
UN Women and its partners have adapted the ILO’s 5R framework for decent work, to provide a                4R roadmap for these efforts:58
Ä Recognize: childcare as a qualified profession for ECCEÄ Redistribute: childcare from a private, non-paid occupation to a remunerated public goodÄ Reward: the creation of paid childcare jobs that reduce the burden of unpaid childcareÄ Represent: Social dialogue and collective bargaining for childcare workers

This can be done by means of a targeted approach to create a newcare-specific entrepreneurship ecosystem, and/or build on wellestablished entrepreneurial ecosystems in Asia (especially genderresponsive ones) and adding care as the next nexus. Yet, it needs
to be recognized that care is a very human-centred sector and will
require different approaches, additional stakeholders and capacity
building for all potential ecosystem players, to ensure building atrue impact economy.

Entrepreneurial ecosystem players:
Opportunities and responsibilities“The Rapid Policy Assessment reveals that many policymakers are cognizant of the link
between unpaid care work and poor participation of women in the economy. The emergence ofchildcare enterprises presents an opportunity for policymakers to innovate how policies andregulations can support the new players to enter the market and scale their operations. At
the same time, governments have a critical role to play in ensuring decent work opportunities
for care workers, affordability, accessibility and quality of care for those seeking services.”— Anuradha Mundkur, Co-Founder Equalis

A rapid scan of selected Asia and the Pacific countries (India, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam) shows that there were wide variations in thedepth and scope of childcare policies. In no country was there a single consolidated
policy. This means that participants in the sector will need to work together to build
the formal childcare system.
58

ILO (2018). Care work and Care Jobs: For the Future of Decent Work. Link: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/
wcms_633135.pdf

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THINK PIECE

For governments
For governments, the primary responsibility is therefore the creation of an enabling environment.
Given that childcare is currently an occupation that is ‘hidden’ in the home and carried out for free,
there is much work to be done to support the formalization and growth of a childcare ecosystemand encourage the private sector to partner with governments to fill provisional gaps. COVID-19
has added urgency to this challenge, with an estimated 81 million jobs lost in Asia and the Pacific— distributed as 32 million jobs for women and 49 million jobs for men.59 The formalization ofchildcare therefore represents an opportunity to create an array of public goods including quality
and affordable childcare, increased female labour-force participation and more and better jobs,
especially for women.
Some of the basic elements of a childcare policy and regulatory framework include:

Governments are responsible for creating
policy & regulation frameworks forChildcare Entrepreneurship
INVESTMENT

DOING BUSINESS

Budget for childcare services,
procurement of goods andservices to incentivize employer
provision of childcare

Digital platfom guidance andregulations, professional standards
and accreditations for care
workers/businesses

LAWS

SEX-DISAGGREGATED DATAChild safety, quality
standards, labor laws

i.e. number of workers in theformal childcare sector andownership of registered childcare
businesses

Source: UN Women
Governments can incentivize and enable more care entrepreneurs to set up businesses by making
starting a business, in general, more appealing and less complex. Care entrepreneurs haveindicated that setting up a business, in general, is very bureaucratic and demotivating. Simplifying
processes that make it easier to receive international investments and applying for business grants
less cumbersome can stimulate business development. Special efforts should be made to support
women-led and owned businesses and digital solutions to democratize access and to create mutual
partnerships between governments and care enterprises. Governments are also still unsure about
the best ways to regulate tech-enabled businesses (i.e. matchmaking platforms), which appears
to be one of the most common delivery models emerging in the care sector. For now, some earlyentrepreneurs have used this space to offer their services, however, this has risks for the care
workers if it is not well regulated in the long run.

59

UNESCAP (Sep. 2021). COVID-19 and the Unpaid Care Economy in Asia and the Pacific. Link: https://www.unescap.org/kp/2021/covid-19-and-unpaid-care-economy-asia-andpacific

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6. IT TAKES AN ECOSYSTEM - WHY AND HOW TO BUILD AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM FOR CHILDCARE

It is important here to highlight that gender norms sort migrants (who represent a large part ofcare workers in Asia and the Pacific) into different categories of work and entrap women at thebottom end of the occupational hierarchy, with minimal scope for upward mobility or new job skills.
In the informal care economy, there is also limited social protection, contractual protection, income
security, access to healthcare, or opportunities for skill development.60 By mid-2020, 83 million
people from the Asia–Pacific region were living outside their countries of birth, that is, almost 30
per cent of the world’s international migrant stock and nearly 44 per cent of these migrants werefemale, many of whom are working in domestic/care jobs.61 They were at heightened risk of abuseand exploitation in the absence of travel documents, social protections, and public services prior to
the pandemic.62 Currently, South-East Asia hosts the largest number of women migrant domestic/care workers.63 Governments will need to develop special policies for migrants in the childcare
sector.

For Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs are often the best pollinators of new ideas, and experience from other sectors has
demonstrated that private sector enterprises often drive innovation.64 During the pandemic, somegovernments worked with social enterprises to ensure a holistic response: One example is theGovernment of India’s project with social enterprise Dharma Life, which used village networks
to coordinate digital home visits, doctor consultations, and vaccinations.65 New attention is being
paid to the care economy and the ways in which entrepreneurs can step in to provide innovative
approaches to public goods provision. This attention is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to     re-evaluate the value proposition of childcare. Furthermore, entrepreneurs’ willingness to takerisks to create positive change in society through their initiatives creates an enabling environment
for innovative solutions.66
Importantly, the combination of social entrepreneurship with women’s entrepreneurship in thehighly feminized care industry can offer opportunities for women to grow successful businesses
while transforming an entire industry—creating an impact industry led by women. These inclusive
business models will enable childcare entrepreneurs to contribute to transform the ‘care economy’
into a ‘care impact economy’. Addressing the availability, affordability and quality of childcare pays
a triple dividend67 [see page 13 ] to empower women, create good job opportunities and ensure
investment in the quality of childcare as a foundation for the development of the next generation.
Childcare entrepreneurs can piggy-back on investment models from other sectors. Resources
like UN Women’s WeRise Toolkit provide them with tools to understand their investment needs.68
Entrepreneurship ecosystems already exist for various sectors,69 and in the region there have beensuccessful funding rounds in the care economy for health-tech start-ups and companies. These
efforts have shown how government-funded collaborations in the care economy can function.70
Entrepreneurs can increase their chance of securing investments by better understanding how
investors look at the care sector and pitching their businesses accordingly. While investors may
be still new to the childcare sector they may have linked interests (e.g., gender or technology).
Therefore, entrepreneurs can consider potential intersections across thematic areas. By
strengthening the positioning of care enterprises as social impact businesses, it is possible totarget an increasing number of impact investors. Not every enterprise needs or wants equity
investment. Especially in the care sector, it will be important for enterprises to understand what
capital and investments they need.

60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70

ILO (Dec. 2020). Who are the women on the move? A portrait of female migrant workers. Link: https://ilostat.ilo.org/who-are-the-women-on-the-move-a-portrait-of-femalemigrant-workers/
IOM (2021). Asia-Pacific Migration Data Report. Link: https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/Asia-Pacific-Migration-%20Data-Report-2020.pdf
UN Women (2020). Guidance Note for Action: Addressing the Emerging Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Migrant Women in Asia and the Pacific for a Gender-Responsive
Recovery. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/04/guidance-for-action-addressing-the-emerging-impacts-of-the-covid-19-pandemicnderresponsive-recovery
ILO (2016). Migrant Domestic Workers Across the World: global and regional estimates. Link: https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/projects/gap/publications/
WCMS_490162/lang--en/index.htm
Williams, R. (Sep. 2020). What Is an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Really?. Source Link. Link: https://www.joinsourcelink.com/2020/09/03/what-is-an-entrepreneurial-ecosystemreally/
Dharma Life. Link to website: https://dharmalife.in/we-for-village.php
Financier Worldwide Magazine (May 2020). The impact of social entrepreneurship on economic growth. Link: https://www.financierworldwide.com/the-impact-of-socialentrepreneurship-on-economic-growth#.Y1iu7exBz6Z
UN Women (2015). Gender equality, child development and job creation: How to reap the ‘triple dividend’ from early childhood education and care services. Link: https://www.
unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/12/gender-equality-child-development-job-creation
UN Women (2021). WeRise Toolkit for Entrepreneurs. Link: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/10/werise-toolkit-for-entrepreneurs
Tech Startup School. Link to website: http://www.techstartupschool.com/news/entrepreneurship-ecosystem-and-its-elements.html
Koh, D. (Jul. 2019). An overview of APAC’s healthtech landscape – the first half of 2019. Mobi Health News. Link: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/asia/overview-apac-shealthtech-landscape-first-half-2019

PAGE 34

THINK PIECEFor companies (employers) in all sectors
As companies (employers) in all sectors try to entice their employees back to the office, theprovision of childcare services on-site represents a powerful tool not only to enhance employee
satisfaction, but also to improve longer-term profitability and sustainability. Employers can use acombination of offerings to help their employees’ childcare needs. This includes on-site childcare
centres (run by the employer or a third party), partnering with off- or near-site childcare centres,
partnering with other businesses to sponsor childcare centres, including in the communities
where employees reside, providing childcare vouchers, subsidies, stipends, discounts, reservedseats, subscriptions to online care platforms, and supporting back-up, after-hours and sick-child
services.

Establishing public-private partnerships
Public-private partnerships can build new sources of seed finance and growth capital.
Governments are investing in a number of areas that will require private sector know-how andprovision, including: brick-and-mortar facilities, investments in increasing quality of care throughupskilling and certification, and ICT infrastructure. Since private investors are still hesitant about
their returns in the childcare sector, these forms of blended finance can help care entrepreneurs
attract the capital they need to scale their business while providing financial returns to investors.
Another promising approach to this new opportunity is social impact investment: By simultaneously
pursuing social and economic objectives, social entrepreneurs seek market-based solutions toaddress social and environmental challenges faced by communities, such as lack of access toaffordable, accessible, high-quality childcare.71

Convening the different actors
Convening the different actors and processes in an ecosystem is an important step in its
establishment. Organizations such as UN Women can play this role, as a convener, builder andcoordinator of multi-stakeholder coalitions that are recognized by both governments and theprivate sector. UN Women’s triple mandate of normative support, coordination and operational
activities represents a significant asset in bringing together the diverse care ecosystem actors. In
practice this means the following:i.
ii.

Working on policy reform related to Care Entrepreneurship within the wider care economy
Promoting women’s entrepreneurship programmes in the care economy: Donors canlead the way to support gender-inclusive care business models and practicesiii. Building entrepreneurial ecosystem programmes from ideation, incubation toacceleration programmes
iv. Convening new innovative blended finance mechanisms for Care Entrepreneurship,including public and private investors from philanthropy to capital markets

UN Women and NGOs can individually and collectively support the set up of these gendersensitive ecosystem programmes, including incubation and acceleration initiatives that target
care enterprises, especially women-led/owned and -benefitting care enterprises. These types ofprogrammes interact directly and deeply with entrepreneurs and other ecosystem players that
support them.

71

UNCTAD (2017). Promoting Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: a Selection of Business Cases from the Empretec Network. Link: https://unctad.org/system/files/
official-document/diaeed2017d6_en.pdf

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7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS“The business case for childcare is pro-women, pro-children, and pro-poor…
And now is the time to innovate, scale-up existing models and leverage public
and private investment to build a care ecosystem that will ensurethat children get the best early education, that women are empowered, decent
work is created and society benefits from entrepreneurial zeal in this space.”— Katja Freiwald, Regional Lead, Women’s Economic Empowerment,
UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

THINK PIECE INSIGHTS
We have argued that entrepreneurship is an important policy
lever to fill the childcare supply gap. The way to do this is to build
an enabling ecosystem that can reap a triple dividend: increased
female labour-force participation; better early childhood
education quality; and an increased number of quality jobs for
women and women-led companies.

1

The following insights areintended to spark further
discussion and catalyse
actions to build the Childcare
Entrepreneurship ecosystem
in Asia and the Pacific:

Care Entrepreneurship can support a shift from unpaid to paid childcarethat is affordable, accessible and of high quality.
Market-based solutions through Care Entrepreneurship have the potential to complement and enhance thepublic provision of care and/or support the delivery of public-supported childcare. Although the ecosystem is
at an early stage in terms of financing and regulation, there are exciting models being developed all over Asiaand the Pacific.
Yet, even basic definitions are lacking in some countries, where care enterprises are almost seen as a synonym
for healthcare enterprises. Governments are still grappling with how best to regulate the childcare sector
and develop a comprehensive childcare service delivery policy and regulatory framework that clearly outlines
service delivery standards, including caregiver qualifications and remuneration. Government intervention willbe essential to provide significant support to childcare enterprises by creating financial incentives for marketbased childcare services, direct subsidies to families for childcare, and strengthening mandates and support
for employers to provide childcare.

2

Technology not only helps to fill information gaps, but can be leveraged to provide
other complementary services.
Like other online ‘labour’ platforms in the region (e.g., Gojek, Grab), online childcare businesses havean important function as marketplaces that match care workers and customers in a faster way. But thesebusinesses can be more than just online job boards; they can also provide services such as payment interfaces,
contract templates, care-worker and employer vetting, and even support contract negotiations. The potential for
growth via technology platforms will need to be carefully balanced with adequate protections for care workers,
who often fall between the cracks due to the part-time and low-paid nature of their employment, as well as
child-protection measures. As childcare moves from informality to a more formalized sector, so too must labour
rights and protections.

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THINK PIECE

3

To build the new Childcare Entrepreneurship ecosystem, foundational finance, capacity
building and development are needed.
Ideation, incubation, and acceleration programmes are needed to build a fully supporting entrepreneurshipecosystem for the care economy. Opportunities to build on established entrepreneurship ecosystems should
be seized. Blended finance can mitigate the perceived risks of childcare businesses, which are not always
viewed as financially viable or interesting investments. There is a need to increase awareness of the benefitsof high-quality care services among governments, employers, and families, especially in the childcare sector—
investments in quality care are an investment in future generations and a source of inclusive and equitableeconomic development. Innovative and blended finance is needed to advance Care Entrepreneurship and notevery care enterprise needs to be a ‘unicorn’. Community-based models can be very useful, as they can be
more readily accessible mechanisms of offering affordable care, without profit-maximization as the driving
force. Similarly, blended public, philanthropic and private investments will be essential to maintain childcare
as an affordable public good.

4

Models to reach the bottom of the pyramid exist, but they are few and often informal.

5

Not all care enterprises are impact-driven or gender-inclusive.

6

Data is scarce.

They tend to be run as micro-enterprises and receive limited financing. There are possibilities to grow thissegment through franchise models or models supported by NGOs and blended investment in ways that serve
low-income communities. More research is needed, including at a country-specific level, to identify existingmodels that have already been established in other entrepreneurship ecosystems in Asian countries. Crosssectoral learning can support efforts to create new ideas that embrace a multi-stakeholder approach.

Childcare enterprises in the region have limited awareness of gender equality, and only a few have policies
and practices that promote inclusive business conduct and decent work opportunities. Further, many do notconsider themselves social impact businesses. While both men and women run care enterprises, there islimited data on how many care enterprises are led or owned by women. A key issue is the lack of trained orcertified care workers across all the care enterprise models. Many clients are not yet willing to pay higher
prices to have qualified (trained) care workers. This makes it challenging for care enterprises to promote
the benefits of training to their care workers. There is a need to raise more awareness of the benefits ofhigh-quality care services among governments, employers, and families, especially in the childcare sector.
Investments in quality care are an investment in future generations and a source of inclusive and equitableeconomic development.

Given this emerging space, there is limited data available on the size of the Childcare Entrepreneurship market;
well-established data platforms, such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) do not capture suchsegmented data. Equally, no sex-disaggregated data is available on the ownership of enterprises, nor is anyother data on the size of these enterprises. Furthermore, there is no data on the impact that these existing
enterprises have on reducing women’s unequal share of childcare responsibilities, which would help determine
how much they contribute to increasing women’s labour force participation.

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7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSTHINK PIECE CONCLUSIONSThe shift of non-remunerated childcare towards formality has
the potential to reap efficiency gains, allowing women to makeempowered decisions based on a larger variety of options, as
opposed to being the unquestioned and unpaid caretaker athome.

This shift will require all ecosystem players
to acknowledge both their opportunities andobligations to create a Childcare Entrepreneurshipsystem that can achieve the triple dividend andcatalyse Care Entrepreneurship.

For governments
Enable new delivery mechanisms for childcare entrepreneurs to contribute to closing the gap between care supply anddemand. Governments can better recognise and reward care work by professionalizing the sector, providing clear mandates
and financial support for minimum wages and better working and employment conditions for paid care work. This will lead tomore opportunities to develop the care impact economy, as enterprises will have clear pathways to provide more decent workand employment opportunities.
Co-financing – subsidies / incentives for employers. Governments must play a crucial role to provide investments in careinfrastructure and use financial tools such as tax exemptions for employers if they provide childcare services and/or tax
benefits for families to enable affordable care for all and/or support directly to care enterprises. A holistic finance support
strategy needs to be designed to ensure affordability and accessibility of care services.
Strengthen legal protections for children, parents, and employees. Governments need to keep pace, for example, with new
digitally-enabled childcare platforms, with newly formalized care workers, and with the special needs and vulnerabilities of
migrant workers.
Simplify business processes for care entrepreneurs. Simplifying processes that make it easier to receive investments andless cumbersome to apply for business grants can stimulate business development. Special efforts should be made to support
women-led and -owned businesses and digital solutions to democratize access, and create mutual partnerships between
governments and care enterprises.
Collect data. Currently there is a dearth of real-time data on childcare and the size of its contribution to GDP or employment.
As the sector becomes more formalized and investment finds viable models, governments can help track progress with realtime and impact information.

For corporations (larger employers)
Learn the lessons of COVID-19 and embrace flexible, family-friendly policies and practices to increase productivity
and retain workers. Policies such as on-site and/or off-site employer-supported childcare can vastly increase employee
satisfaction, productivity, and retention rates. This can be achieved by, for example, exploring partnerships with childcare
enterprises for flexible on-site or on-demand services. Care enterprises can be useful partners for larger companies as theybring tailored, locally viable solutions that are cost-effective.

For (care) entrepreneurs
Take advantage of the range of business models for childcare services: From B2C, B2B and B2G, there is now a range ofapproaches that can be deployed and provide business-development opportunities for care entrepreneurs and neighbouringsectors.
Grow models to reach the base of the pyramid. They exist, but are few and often informal. Where they exist, they tend to
be run as micro-enterprises and receive limited attention regarding investments/acceleration programmes. There arepossibilities to grow this segment through franchise models or models supported by NGOs. Financial sustainability remains
challenging across the different enterprise models and requires blended investment.
Take advantage of tech platforms to reach customers, which can close knowledge gaps, allow entrepreneurs to expand
relationships without brick-and-mortar investments and increase business scalability, which in turn will attract moreinvestors and can contribute to providing more decent work opportunities for care workers. Going beyond a simple matching
service will improve offerings, in turn meeting more and different customer needs.

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THINK PIECE

Embrace impact-driven and gender-inclusive business approaches. Some innovative enterprises researched in this Think
Piece have demonstrated strong impact-driven approaches; they understand the broader impacts of their businessesmodels on women’s economic participation – provision of decent work in the care sector and improved education outcomesfor children. The gender equity track in the CA was successful because most enterprises were surprised by how little they
understood this topic and how much there was still to be done to build truly inclusive businesses.
Look for entrepreneurship support programmes for knowledge exchange, network building and investment
opportunities. The start-ups in the CA found it incredibly insightful to talk to their peers and determine how many variations
are possible on seemingly similar business models. They also identified opportunities, such as business models that canhave an enabling or supporting role for their own care enterprises. Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programmes also provide
an important entry point for partnerships and future investments.

For investors and entrepreneurship organizations (including NGOs)
Remember that entrepreneurs need different kinds of support along the way: The CA demonstrates that entrepreneurs canbenefit from a range of financial and business-development services and mentoring. Investors need to be creative with theirfinancial support and consider blended, community-based, philanthropic, impact and equity investments, among others.
Build ecosystem capacity on gender-smart practices and equality. Gendered norms that see care work as women’s workpose challenges for care enterprises. UN Women and NGOs should individually and collectively set up more gender-sensitive
entrepreneurship ecosystem programmes. This includes incubation and acceleration programmes targeting care enterprisesthat are women-led/owned and -benefitting care enterprises. Especially in the care sector, it will be important for enterprises
to understand what capital and investments they need, and resources like UN Women’s WeRise Toolkit provide them with tools
to understand their investment needs.
Leverage existing and established entrepreneurship support organizations. There is a broad variety of entrepreneurshipservices available in Asia-Pacific, yet many of these do not yet focus on the care economy. Along with establishing dedicatedplatforms and programmes, expertise and networks can be leveraged from other sectors. There is also a benefit of introducing
elderly care with childcare entrepreneurs to spark cross-sector learning.
Expand and capacitate well-established entrepreneurs outside the care sector to pivot their offerings to include care products
and services. For example, established matchmaking platforms could expand their services into the care economy.

For donors, academics, CSOs (NGOs)
Investments in the care sector are pro-poor and pro-women: As such, they should be prioritized by donors as their clients
aim to recover from the devastating and gendered effects of COVID-19. Donors can ensure that childcare services for lowincome communities are developed by supporting care entrepreneurs and NGOs that serve this market segment. Publicprivate partnerships can help build social impact businesses and address funding gaps by building more viable models forcare enterprises and NGOs to service this market. This will also ensure that newly developed offerings are designed to beaffordable. Donors can play a vital role through innovative finance models, providing securities to de-risk investments into thecare-economy.
Research must be laser-focused on what entrepreneurs really need: For example, to gain funding, to develop their businessmodels, or to explore how childcare services can have an important social impact. Donors can deploy their vast research
capacity to support women’s employment programs and the delivery of the SDGs.
Digital transformation, especially platform businesses, can be a key enabler to increase accessibility to different and flexible
care services. Yet there is a research gap in understanding how these businesses can truly contribute to create more decent
work opportunities in the care economy and beyond.
Donors can bring together different stakeholders to build the ecosystem: With concessional finance innovations, newdelivery models can be tested without fear for failure. Convening organizations including the UN can connect the dots withother development programmes that have strong touchpoints to the care economy.

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UN Women Regional Office Asia and the PacificAugust 2022 Publication developed by:This paper is authored by UN Women Asia and the Pacificas part of the WeEmpowerAsia, a programme funded byand in partnership with the European Union.

WeEmpowerAsia (WEA)
WEA was a 2019-2022 joint programme of the European Union and UN Women aimed atincreasing the number of women who lead and participate in business across seven countries:
China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. WEA aimed to build
inclusive and sustainable growth and stronger links between European and Asian markets
through gender- sensitive trade and supply chains.

With the support of Equalis, Bopinc and Seedstars