Ministry seeks emergence of community-based daycares in regions

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection is encouraging the establishment of community-based, child-friendly daycares in regions that lack formal childcare services to ensure proper care for children of working mothers.This initiative was highlighted by Anisa Asri, a first planner official at the ministry, during an online seminar titled “Fostering Child-Friendly Daycares in Jakarta Province” on Wednesday.She noted that successful examples of such daycares have already been implemented in Jember, East Java.”For areas that face challenges in providing official daycares due to various constraints, community-based care can be utilized by involving local residents collaboratively,” she said.Asri added that community-based, child-friendly daycares can serve as a flagship program, offering alternative care services for families.For this reason, these daycares must be standardized and capable of meeting children’s needs while also supporting long-term women’s participation in the labor market, especially given the relatively high female Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR).Labor force data from February 2024 shows that the female LFPR reached 55.4 percent, or 56.21 million people, while the male LFPR stood at 84 percent, or 85.96 million people.The National Labor Force Survey from August 2025 recorded a male LFPR of 84.40 percent, higher than the female LFPR of 56.63 percent.Daycare services are considered particularly necessary for women outside of Java. A 2024 study conducted by the ministry in collaboration with MicroSave Consulting on female informal workers found that women in provinces outside Java have lower access to childcare facilities.The study also found that 59 percent of the 400 respondents lacked access to reliable and affordable childcare services.”Not all workers, especially laborers, have access to daycare due to the high cost of these services, resulting in many children not receiving care while their parents are at work,” she added.