Ana Maria Munoz Boudet

Can Regulations Make It More Difficult to Serve the Poor? The Case of Childcare Services in Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract Private and community-driven efforts can be an important resource to expand early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to poor children, under the right conditions and design. The regulations imposed on private ECEC provision, while having an impact on quality, may increase costs of provision and in return prices of services, reducing accessibility and affordability for poor households. This paper considers the impact of regulations on private ECEC in a highly regulated childcare market in a developing country. Using data from a recently fielded survey that sampled 141 private ECEC facilities in Istanbul, Turkey, the paper looks at the impact of fixed regulations on prices and poor children’s access to services, in particular the outdoor space requirement that was originally imposed on private providers in the 1960s and has over time become more difficult to fulfill in densely populated districts of the city. The paper estimates that controlling for other provider characteristics, in districts where such requirement is more binding, the price of childcare services increases by 376.2 TL per child per month and the percentage of children enrolled coming from poor backgrounds lowers by 15.1% points than in districts where such standard proves less challenging.

Gender differences in poverty and household composition through the life-cycle : a global perspective

This paper uses household surveys from 89 countries to look at gender differences in poverty in the developing world. In the absence of individual-level poverty data, the paper looks at what can we learn in terms of gender differences by looking at the available individual and household level information. The estimates are based on the same surveys and welfare measures as official World Bank poverty estimates. The paper focuses on the relationship between age, sex and poverty. And finds that, girls and women of reproductive age are more likely to live in poor households (below the international poverty line) than boys and men. It finds that 122 women between the ages of 25 and 34 live in poor households for every 100 men of the same age group. The analysis also examines the household profiles of the poor, seeking to go beyond headship definitions. Using a demographic household composition shows that nuclear family households of two married adults and children account for 41 percent of poor households, and are the most frequent household where poor women are found. Using an economic household composition classification, households with a male earner, children and a non-income earner spouse are the most frequent among the poor at 36 percent, and the more frequent household where poor women live. For individuals, as well as for households, the presence of children increases the household likelihood to be poor, and this has a specific impact on women, but does not fully explain the observed female poverty penalty.

Breaking the metal ceiling: female entrepreneurs who succeed in male-dominated sectors

A range of reasons is cited to explain gender differences in business performance in Africa. Within those, the sector of operations is consistently identified as a major issue. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to assess how women entrepreneurs in Uganda start (and strive) operating firms in male-dominated sectors, and what hinders other women from doing so. The study finds that women who cross over into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women who stay in female-dominated sectors. The paper examines a set of factors to explain the differences in sector choices, and finds that there is a problem of information about opportunities in male-dominated industries. The analysis also concludes that psychosocial factors, particularly the influence of male role models and exposure to the sector from family and friends, are critical in helping women circumvent or overcome the norms that undergird occupational segregation.

Why Should We Care about Care?: The Role of Childcare and Eldercare in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

This note examines the provision of childcare and eldercare in FYR Macedonia with an emphasis on the availability, price, and quality of care, and suggests policy priorities that address the identified challenges. The analysis in this note is based on a study aimed at exploring childcare and eldercare in the Western Balkans region, drawing primarily from a new mixed-methods dataset, described in the following section, and building on relevant quantitative surveys and data sources specific to Western Balkans countries. The note is structured as follows: section two introduces the new, independent mixed methods data set that is the basis for the analysis and findings presented. Section three describes the use of formal care arrangements in FYR Macedonia, based on the analysis of perspectives both from families with care needs and from care providers and discussing the role of norms and perceptions of childcare and eldercare use, the following sections are dedicated to the description of supply and demand of childcare and eldercare, respectively. Sections four and five focuses on the supply and demand of childcare, and sections six and seven describe supply and demand of eldercare. Section eight concludes by examining what we know in terms of policies that can support families in informal care provision in a sustainable and incentive-compatible manner.