Childcare services and its impact on women economic participation

Childcare services and its impact on women economic participation

Egypt has a young population. As per the data of 2017 census, 37.9 million in Egypt are less than 18 represents 40% of the Egyptian population. The number of children less than 12 is estimated at 28.9 million and is expected to reach 31.8 million in 2030.

The unpaid care1 for families reflects gender inequality as most of these care activities are done by females. The latest statistics of the time use in Egypt in 2015 shows that unpaid housework accounted for 70% of the total value of unpaid work, while child and elderly care take around 26% of total value of unpaid work which equivalent to 170 billion EGP. Around 82% of the value of the child and elderly care activities are done by females. The following table show the unpaid work distribution between males and females in terms of monetary value.