BLOG POST

Filling Gaps in Childcare and Early Childhood Education Is Critical for Gender Equity and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

Childcare and early childhood development (ECD) are essential drivers of gender equity and economic resilience, yet they remain critically underfunded in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our new CGD policy paper Childcare and Early Childhood Development Expenditures in Africa: Comparative Policy Insights for Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment (co-authored with Astha Mainali), focuses on four African countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal—and highlights key gaps in public investment and policies.

Persistent gaps remain in domestic spending and foreign aid for early education

Our analysis reveals stark shortfalls in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal on domestic spending and foreign aid for pre-primary and early childhood education (ECE), falling far below global targets:

  • Less than 0.2 percent of GDP is spent nationally on pre-primary education (far below the global goal of 1 percent)
  • Only 2 percent or less of national education expenditure is allocated to pre-primary education (well below the global target of 10 percent)
  • Bilateral foreign aid to ECE is less than 0.7 percent of education aid (far below the global goal of 10 percent)
  • Total foreign aid (including multilateral) to ECE as a percentage of education aid ranges from 0.3 percent in Kenya, to around 2 percent in Rwanda and Senegal, and 27 percent in Côte d'Ivoire (compared to the global target of 10 percent)

Figure 1. Government Spending on Pre-Primary Education and Education (as % of GDP) in Focus Countries

Periodic infusion of multilateral aid, such as through the World Bank’s Invest in Childcare initiative, is helping to close gaps in some countries like Côte d'Ivoire, which was the second largest recipient of pre-primary education aid globally in 2022. However, aid levels vary widely from year to year, and future funding remains uncertain as policy priorities at institutions like the World Bank shift.

Figure 2. ODA flows from official donors to focus countries for Early Childhood Education, as a % of total education aid (in USD millions, constant prices), 2017-22

Investments to close large care policy gaps can generate significant returns

Childcare policy gaps (the time between when parental leave ends and free early childhood care and education begins) in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal are significant, ranging from 5.7 to 6.75 years. An additional increase of 1 percent of GDP per year (a total of 4-9 percent of GDP between now and 2030) will be necessary to close policy gaps in these countries.

Figure 3. Required Gross Additional Annual Investment (in GDP) to Close Care Policy Gaps in Focus Countries by 2030 and 2035

Despite the challenges in doing so, significant and transformative social and economic benefits would result from increased investment, as estimated by the ILO’s Care Policy Investment Simulator:

  1. Job creation: Between 500,000 and 1.6 million new jobs could be created in each country by 2030, with the majority going to women.
  2. Economic growth: Investments in childcare yield high returns. For instance, Rwanda could see $2.80 in economic output for every dollar spent on childcare.
  3. Gender equity: Targeted childcare investments could reduce gender employment gaps by up to 6.6 percentage points and wage disparities by as much as 33 percent.

Given fiscal constraints in LMICs, realistic strategies for scaling up investments, such as leveraging low-interest loans, multilateral grants, or bilateral aid, will be crucial. Reallocation of education resources to the earlier years can be also considered, given the long-term benefits that can be achieved by front-loading spending on children across the lifecycle.

Strategic and coordinated policies are critical to address gaps for children under three and empower their caregivers

As immediate, large increases in domestic expenditures will be challenging, it is important to supplement investments with strategic, coordinated, and inclusive policymaking. Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal show a positive trend of having integrated ECD policies, which can make a huge difference; after implementing its national ECD plan which includes a recognition of care gaps for the youngest children, Rwanda increased its daycare enrollment from around 1 percent in 2018 to 28 percent in 2022. Despite some successes, these policies often leave out two critical populations: children under three and their caregivers. Targeting this younger age group is essential for redistributing caregiving responsibilities from women and enabling their economic participation. National care policies, like that being developed in Kenya, may help to fill these gaps and improve policy integration, but this remains to be seen.

Improving data and reporting should be an immediate priority

Reliable expenditure and aid data are essential for understanding childcare investments and identifying gaps. Yet, the current landscape is marked by:

  • Fragmented data: Childcare spending is often buried in broader categories like pre-primary education or social protection, making it difficult to track. Thus, policy researchers must utilize more narrow indicators like pre-primary education and early childhood education, which often does not include children under three.
  • Inconsistent reporting: Available data is frequently outdated, incomplete, or non-existent. For instance, Kenya’s most recent national pre-primary spending data is from 2015.
  • Lack of disaggregation: Data is rarely disaggregated by age or sector, leaving a significant gap in understanding how resources are distributed.

To address these challenges, governments and partners can draw on existing tools, such as UNICEF’s methodological guide, and examples from countries like Côte d’Ivoire, which has demonstrated consistent data collection practices. Improved transparency and regular reporting will allow for better resource allocation and more effective policymaking.

Childcare as a strategic priority for development

This paper highlights the critical need and opportunity to invest in childcare and early childhood education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Improving access and addressing gaps can enable women’s economic participation, create jobs, and enhance outcomes for children. Achieving these results, however, demands a strategic and coordinated approach. By prioritizing children under three and their caregivers, leveraging international aid, and improving data systems, African countries can build more inclusive and equitable societies. International financial institutions and global forums (such as the G20 and G7) provide an opportunity to elevate this issue and mobilize funding to fill financing gaps as countries work to scale up domestic investments. Coordination towards this objective through frameworks like the Global Roadmap for Action on the Care Economy is crucial.

We encourage you to explore this new policy paper for in-depth findings on Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Rwanda, and Senegal, as well as actionable recommendations to enhance expenditure transparency, prioritize early childhood in public funding, and utilize international aid and policy frameworks to strengthen childcare services across the region.

Disclaimer

CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.