ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2021
Who actually cares for children in slums? Why we need to think, and do, more about paid childcare in urbanizing sub-Saharan Africa.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Assessing the impact of Covid-19 on nurturing care in Nairobi slums: Findings from 5 rounds of cross-sectional telephone surveys.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Editorial: Day-care for healthy child development and wider social and economic gain in urban areas in low- and middle income countries.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Associations of formal childcare use with health and human capital development for adolescent mothers and their children in South Africa: A cross-sectional study.Child: care, health and development · 2024Article
- Article
- The Relationship between Childcare-Giving Arrangements and Children's Malnutrition Status in South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Developing an intervention to improve the quality of childcare centers in resource-poor urban settings: a mixed methods study in Nairobi, Kenya.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- The feasibility, acceptability, cost and benefits of a "communities of practice" model for improving the quality of childcare centres: a mixed-methods study in the informal settlements in Nairobi.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Predictors of quality of childcare centers in low-income settings: findings from a cross-sectional study in two Nairobi slums.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- 'I can no longer do my work like how I used to': a mixed methods longitudinal cohort study exploring how informal working mothers balance the requirements of livelihood and safe childcare in South Africa.BMC women's health · 2021Article
- The male breadwinner nuclear family is not the 'traditional' human family, and promotion of this myth may have adverse health consequences.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Who cares for women with children? Crossing the bridge between disciplines.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Children are important too: juvenile playgroups and maternal childcare in a foraging population, the Agta.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The early years are critical and inform the developmental trajectory of children. This is justifiably attracting growing policy attention. Much of this attention is focused on interventions and policies directed at parents, especially mothers. Yet emerging evidence suggests that increasing numbers of children in rapidly urbanizing low- and middle-income countries are now spending much of their day with other formal and informal childcare providers, including largely unregulated paid childcare providers. This paper summarizes the limited literature about the use of such paid childcare in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, before considering possible reasons behind the lack of research evidence. Finally, key research gaps and their implications for public health practice are explored, with reference to the ongoing British Academy funded Nairobi Early Childcare in Slums research programme in Nairobi, Kenya. We argue that improving childcare may be an under-explored strategy to help some of the world's most disadvantaged children in the most important period of their lives, and that interventions in this largely informal market should be built on a rigorous research base. This article is part of the theme issue 'Multidisciplinary perspectives on social support and maternal-child health'.
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