Project report
Childcare for Informal-Sector Workers: Delivery Models, Access, and Welfare
Jacklyn Makaaru Arinaitwe, George Bogere, Anna Fiore, Sylvan Herskowitz, Megan Lang et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5This study tested two ways of providing free childcare to women market vendors in Kampala, Uganda: centers based at the workplace and centers based in the community. Both models freed up caregivers, raised women's earnings, and improved child development and women's overall well-being. Community-based centers were used more and produced bigger gains for children and women's well-being, while workplace-based centers produced bigger economic gains for the women. The report suggests both approaches are good value for money, though workplace centers might work even better if expanded to a larger scale.
Key points
- 883 women market vendors in Kampala were randomly assigned to free workplace- or community-based childcare
- Free childcare redistributes caregiving away from household members
- Free childcare raises women's hourly earnings
- Community centers achieve higher utilization and larger gains in child development and well-being
- Workplace centers generate larger economic impacts; both models have high marginal value of public funds
Limitations
The abstract does not describe how child development or well-being were measured, the study duration, or attrition, limiting assessment of measurement validity and generalizability.
Abstract
Childcare burdens limit productivity among women in the informal sector, but we know little about the optimal design of childcare support. We randomize 883 women market vendors in Kampala, Uganda to receive free workplace- or community-based childcare. Free childcare redistributes caregiving away from household members, raises women’s hourly earnings, and improves child development and women’s well-being. Community centers achieve higher utilization and larger gains in development and well-being, while workplace centers generate larger economic impacts. Both models have a high marginal value of public funds. Community centers currently dominate, but workplace-based centers could prove superior if operated at scale.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Provision of free childcare through either workplace-based or community-based centers
- Population
- 883 women market vendors in Kampala, Uganda and their children
Key finding
Free childcare redistributes caregiving away from household members and raises women's hourly earnings
Arinaitwe et al. · OpenAlex · 2 Sept 2026