How childcare helps break the cycle of poverty in East Africa
Approx. 8 min read
By Merci Umutoniwase, Communications Executive, and Anna Borsboom, Digital Marketing Manager at Ripple Effect
Every year on 20 November, World Children’s Day unites people and organisations around the world to champion children’s rights – the right to grow up healthy, to learn, and to live in safety. In East Africa, where many families face the daily realities of poverty, the charity Ripple Effect is helping parents unlock new opportunities for their children through safe and affordable childcare.
Empowering women to build better futures for their children
Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy, learn, and play – yet for millions across rural Africa, these rights are out of reach. Too often, the obstacles begin not with the children themselves, but with the challenges their mothers face.
Across East Africa, women carry the heaviest share of unpaid care: waking before sunrise to collect water, gather firewood, cook, clean, and care for children. It’s a rhythm of love and responsibility, but also of exhaustion. This unpaid labour leaves little time to rest, learn, or earn an income, and when mothers have fewer opportunities, so do their children.
Globally, 708 million women are outside the labour force because of unpaid care – that’s 45% of all women not in formal work (ILO, 2024). In Sub-Saharan Africa, women spend around four hours a day on unpaid care work compared with 1.4 hours for men (UN Women, 2023). This inequality limits not only women’s potential, but the wellbeing and prospects of their children.
At the same time, 69% of children aged three to five years old in low and middle-income countries miss out on quality childcare and early education (UNICEF, 2019). Girls often face additional care responsibilities at home, spending substantially more time on household chores and childcare than boys. This unequal distribution reduces their time in school, leaving many over-age for their grade, or preventing them from entering formal education altogether.
Access to affordable, safe, and quality childcare is not just a convenience – it is a powerful lever for breaking the cycle of poverty, enabling mothers to earn income and children (both boys and girls) to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Childcare is key to reducing gender inequality
When childcare is unavailable, women are forced to choose between income and care. Research by World Bank shows that affordable childcare can raise women’s participation in the workforce by up to 10 percentage points in low and middle-income countries.
For children, the benefits are lifelong. UNICEF estimates that children from low and middle-income countries who attend early education are over three times more likely to be on track in literacy and numeracy and to build stronger social skills.
Childcare is therefore a catalyst for children’s wellbeing and gender equality, unlocking opportunities for mothers and enabling the next generation to thrive.
Community-led childcare in Kenya and Ethiopia
In 2024, Ripple Effect launched a multi-country community childcare programme in rural Kenya and Ethiopia, called Scaling Innovations for Reduced and Redistributed Women’s Unpaid Care Work (I4RR), and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The programme is located in Bungoma county (Kenya) and Bayra Koysha district (Ethiopia), where women previously spent up to five hours more per day than men on unpaid care work.
The programme offers practical solutions that recognise, reduce, and redistribute care responsibilities for parents. After one year, key achievements include:
- 21 safe childcare centres, managed by community groups and supported by local authorities, giving mothers space to work, rest, and learn new skills.
- Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) sessions, led by 54 community champions and 72 facilitators, reaching 1,308 people, promoting equal distribution of care and decision-making.
- Kitchen gardens that reduce the time spent collecting food and animal feed.
- Partnerships with governments and private providers to strengthen the quality and affordability of childcare.
Communities are at the centre of these solutions, ensuring initiatives remain sustainable. In Ethiopia, 40 Self-Help Groups have saved ETB 673,795 (£3,370) through income-generating activities. In Kenya, sales of vegetables and milk from project participants reached KES 1,296,000 (£7,470).
“We take our children to the daycare where we feel they are safe and well cared for and only pay KES 50 per day. I can now spend more time in my tailoring business without distractions. Now I earn up to KES 1,000 per day – before, it was KES 200.”
- Ruth Sikiriet, mother, Kenya
“Before, we didn’t have anyone to care for our children. Now we can send them to the childcare centre and work without worry.”
- Meselech Derese, mother, Ethiopia
“Parents with young children are lucky to have a place where they can leave them and carry out their daily activities.”
- Asha Ayanu, grandfather and community elder, Ethiopia
Through these initiatives, care is becoming a shared responsibility rather than a woman’s burden alone. While other Ripple Effect’s programmes in Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Zambia also integrate gender equality and childcare, this dedicated programme provides insights to guide long-term, sustainable change.
The ripple effect of childcare
For children: childcare centres give children aged two to five a safe place to play, socialise, and explore early learning materials such as posters and alphabets – vital early learning development and stimulation in areas with no formal preschool.
For women: mothers gain time and confidence to pursue small businesses, join Self-Help Groups, and rest. The time saved from unpaid care has improved income, independence, and wellbeing.
For communities: families are working together, men are helping with care and farm work, and local leaders are recognising childcare as an engine for gender equality and economic growth.
“Empowering women and girls benefits the entire community. Having childcare centres in rural communities is vital for women who were once confined to the home.” - Community Leader in Ethiopia
From local practice to regional advocacy
The mid-term ‘Scaling Care Innovations in Africa’ conference in October 2025, 19 projects from 15 countries funded by the IDRC shared solutions on unpaid care and domestic work affecting women and girls.
Discussions also focused on building sustainable childcare systems through:
- Community advocacy and women’s associations
- Partnerships with governments and investors
- Collaboration with health and education sectors
- Child safeguarding at the core of every centre
Regional institutions such as the African Union (AU) are starting to prioritise the care economy, recognising that reducing unpaid care is central to inclusive development.
- Ripple Effect’s Regional Gender and Social Inclusion Coordinator, Sofanit Mesfin, who attended the conference
Building futures together
Listening to children means creating systems that help them and their families thrive.
When women have access to childcare, they gain opportunity; when children have access to early education, they gain confidence; and when communities share care responsibilities, everyone prospers.
By investing in childcare, we invest in gender equality, social inclusion, and a future where every child and every mother can flourish.
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