STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- In the MENA region, the lack of childcare options is identified as the most challenging barrier for women to join the labor market.
- Female labor force participation in the Mashreq countries is among the lowest in the world — with less than 15% of women employed or actively seeking work in Iraq and Jordan and only 26% in Lebanon.
- Expanding options for quality and affordable childcare services could increase female labor force participation (FLFP) by 2.5 percentage points in Jordan, 2.1 in Lebanon and 0.5 in Iraq.There is an old Arabic proverb that goes “Qalb al-um madrasat al ṭifl” (قلب الأم مدرسة الطفل) which translates to ‘a mother’s heart is the child’s school’ – a common expression that illustrates societal expectations related to the role mothers play in caring for their children and influencing their human development outcomes.In the Middle East and North Africa region, like in many parts of the world, women are expected to be primary caretakers in the home. Some of this is due to social norms but there are other important reasons, such as limited access to affordable childcare of quality.
This lack of childcare comes at a cost: the ILO estimates that globally, in 2018, 647 million working-age adults were hindered from entering the workforce due to family responsibilities—94% of whom were women. In the MENA region, the lack of childcare options is identified as the most challenging barrier for women to join the labor market (Arab Barometer 2021-22)…
