Client & Partner: The World Bank,
In 2019, the World Bank launched the “Gender Equality for Growth: Programmatic Analytics and Advisory Services (PASA)” to provide evidence-based recommendations for reforms and investments that aim to close gender gaps and promote economic growth. The program aims to support the Government’s objective to increase female labor force participation by 25 percent, as well as accelerate economic growth and transition toward middle-class jobs. Of particular focus is improving the evidence base for a set of interventions that could unblock barriers that women face in labor markets and self-employment by: (i) identifying key reforms and programs that would be needed in Indonesia to increase women’s economic participation; and (ii) addressing evidence gaps to deliver these reforms.
As part of this program, the World Bank awarded REDI to undertake data collection to understand the care economy in Indonesia. The research aims to (i) serve as the analytical underpinnings for the range of instruments at the World Bank’s disposal to support the government on the care economy agenda; (ii) to understand the care economy from multiple perspectives and inform cross-sectoral policies and programs that the Government can implement with the support of the World Bank; (iii) to identify the factors driving or constraining demand for childcare services, including social, cultural and economic factors, social norms, quality and safety standards expected by families, and the role of domestic workers, informality and intra-household distribution of work; and (iv) emphasis on time use patterns within households to examine how paid and unpaid work is distributed and how these patterns relate to childcare provision, women’s engagement in paid work, and children’s wellbeing.
The research entails primary and secondary data collection activity, as well as qualitative and quantitative components. The primary data was collected using a national household survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions to understand the work-care nexus for women in Indonesia, with a particular focus on childcare needs, time use patterns, children’s wellbeing, and childcare provider conditions. The research activities were conducted in 16 provinces, 40 districts and 200 villages or Kelurahan. The household criteria are having children aged 0-6 years and the respondents are household members who are the main caregivers for children aged 0-6 years and are responsible for managing the care of these children. A total of 3.000 household respondents were surveyed. The qualitative data collection was carried out through key informant interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Overall, this study collected data from 54 interviews and 27 FGDs, and the key informants and FGD participants include childcare service providers, beneficiaries of childcare services, and members of government and civil society.