Child care subsidies and employment services in Egypt
Globally, as of 2023, only 45% of women were employed, compared to 68% of men.
Abstract
Globally, as of 2023, only 45% of women were employed, compared to 68% of men (International Labour Organization 2023). Gender gaps in employment are even starker in the Middle East and North Africa. In Egypt, as of 2022, while 66% of men were employed, only 13% of women were employed (CAPMAS 2022). Women in Egypt have even lower rates of employment when they marry and form families (Krafft, Assaad, and Keo 2022; Selwaness and Krafft 2021; Assaad, Krafft, and Selwaness 2022). A randomized controlled trial in low-income areas of Greater Cairo, Egypt, tested whether helping women with young children with care-giving and finding jobs could increase their employment. The experiment randomized 25% and 75% child-care subsidies (vouchers, subsequently raised to 100% subsidies) for registered NGO nurseries. The experiment also cross-randomized employment services to help women find and apply for jobs. While only 11% of the women were working at baseline, among the non-employed, 40% wanted to work, and 46% of the women wanting to work reported childcare as the primary barrier to employment.
This is an output of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries programme.
Citation
Caria S, Crepon B, Krafft C and Nagy A. ‘Child Care Subsidies and Employment Services in Egypt’. Policy Brief No. 65, Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries 2024