Enhancing and Scaling up Impacts of a Social-Franchise Model of Daycare Centres to Reduce Effects of Unpaid Care Work

In Nairobi’s informal settlements, women shoulder a heavy load of unpaid care work. They spend about five hours a day on primary care tasks, with a significant portion of this involving the care of young children. In the absence of extended family support systems and with limited access to formal day care, low-income mothers must rely on neighbours or informal, often substandard childcare facilities. This situation underscores the urgent need for affordable and quality childcare solutions for mothers of small children in informal settlements. Reducing or redistributing their care responsibilities will free up time for them to advance educational or economic aspirations and for self-care.

Expanding high-quality solutions

Launched in 2014, the Tiny Totos Care Model has helped transform existing community day cares into self-sustaining businesses that offer high-quality, affordable childcare services in Nairobi’s informal settlements. The model has shown promise, with positive impacts both for care workers and poor working mothers living in informal settlements. This project aims to expand the impacts of the Tiny Totos approach with a view to enhancing its efficiency, reach and cost-effectiveness. The goal is to increase the benefits of this model for women and girls who access childcare services through affiliated day cares by generating evidence on how best to deepen and sustain the positive impacts.