World Bank: Better Childcare Services Can Improve Women’s Access to Labor Market, Support Growth in Lebanon

World Bank: Better Childcare Services Can Improve Women’s Access to Labor Market, Support Growth in Lebanon

NNA -nbsp;Childcare responsibilities are one of the main obstacles to women employment in Lebanon, according to a new World Bank Group report released today. Expanding the availability, affordability, and quality of childcare services, while tackling social norms around their utilization, can support women in joining or remaining in the workforce, while contributing to children growing at their full potential, ultimately leading to job creation and economic growth.nbsp;nbsp;

Thenbsp;quot;Comprehensive Assessment of the Childcare Landscape in Lebanonquot;nbsp;report was launched today in an event organized in collaboration with the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University and with the participation of a large number of stakeholders from government, the private sector, civil society, donors and development organizations and academia. Developed under thenbsp;Mashreq Gender Facilitynbsp;(MGF), coordinated by the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW), the report analyzes the supply and demand of childcare services for children aged 3 and under. It provides a review of Lebanonrsquo;s regulatory and institutional framework around childcare, maps out the current supply of services including cost, evaluates employer-provided childcare solutions and deepens the understanding of householdsrsquo; childcare needs.

In Lebanon, only 22% of women aged between 15 and 64 are in the labor force according to 2022 data from