The Care Economy
A South African childcare nurtures economic opportunity for women
Narrative by Nic Corbett, USAID | Photos and video by Emile Bosch and Anton Scholtz for USAID
June 2024
The Treasured-Offspring Daycare Centre in Soweto, South Africa is a beacon for the care economy. Its colorful playground stands out in a sea of beige buildings, attracting parents—especially mothers—who need someone to care for their kids while they are at work.
“The mothers at my center, they [are] really grateful for our center opening. Especially that it is a ‘6-to-6 center,’ said the center’s owner, Portia Ntlebi. “It helps them to go to work on time, because now we open early for them.”
Portia, a mother of three, started the childcare business in her home after noticing some kids in her neighborhood couldn’t read or write. She invited her neighbors to bring their children over so she could help them get an early start on their education. As demand grew, Portia converted her home into a center.
“I've had one child that was already in Grade 1, but couldn't write or hold a pencil properly,” Portia said. “And it really disturbed me in a way. It means that somewhere, somehow, kids are being failed.”
Accelerating Sustainability
Soon, she learned about social enterprise Grow ECD’s Accelerator training program, which helps early childhood development (ECD) centers across Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town become economically sustainable and to improve children’s learning outcomes.
USAID support enabled more childcare center managers and owners to attend Grow ECD’s six-week program. Portia’s childcare center is now part of more than 170 childcare centers that benefit from Grow ECD’s ongoing support. This work is helping to raise the standard of early childhood development in South Africa.
“The Grow mentoring helps us a lot,” Portia said. “There are short courses that you attend in terms of, let's say nutrition, how to interact with your teachers, how to handle parents.”
Today, Portia’s center enrolls 60 children from 3 months to 6 years old, giving them the foundation they need to succeed in Grade R (South Africa’s first year of schooling) and beyond.
The Care Economy
Around the world, the responsibility of paid and unpaid caregiving falls overwhelmingly on women and girls.
By investing in care infrastructure like childcare centers, USAID and partners hope to unlock women’s broader participation in the economy and improve early childhood development.
“[Mothers] can go and look for employment while their kids are safe in our center,” Portia said.
Closing the childcare gap could create an estimated 96 million new jobs globally by 2035.
Portia now employs five teachers, all women. This year, the demand from parents in Soweto was so high, she had to limit enrollment.
“Running a business has changed my economic condition a lot, like in a very positive way. I can now provide better for my children,” Portia said. “And it also helped the ladies that I work with in terms of employment.”
Portia plans to take out a loan to expand the center in the long run.
“I'm also furthering my own education as an owner, so that I can have better knowledge as I'm running my center,” said Portia, who studies on weekends to achieve a higher level of qualification for working in early childhood development.
Portia’s 9-year-old daughter, who is in Grade 4—a year ahead for her age, likes to come to the center to help the children learn to read.
She told her mother, “When you retire, Mommy, I’ll take over the center.”
About This Story
USAID is committed to strengthening global care infrastructure for children, older persons, and people with disabilities, and strengthening protections for the caregiving workforce.
The USAID CATALYZE EduFinance project, implemented by Palladium, uses a blended finance approach to improve and sustain learning outcomes for children and youth globally, particularly those most vulnerable.
In South Africa, the USAID project partners with Kaizenvest, an emerging markets asset manager, to mobilize private capital and social enterprise Grow ECD to support women-led childcare centers.
This collaboration focuses on building the women entrepreneurs’ personal leadership, finance, and business skills, as well as enhancing their understanding of the registration process in South Africa and expectations for operating a high-quality childcare center. An upfront investment by the USAID project helped Grow ECD expand their business accelerator program that then catalyzed investment from a number of philanthropic donors.
Grow ECD’s Accelerator raises the standard of early childhood development in South Africa by empowering, upskilling, and expanding access to capital for women entrepreneurs. Since 2023, 600 center owners and managers have completed the program and by the end of 2024, the program plans to reach over 1,000 in total.
Rachael Marx and Emily Zimmerman contributed to this story.