AKP Phnom Penh, June 12, 2026 --

A new World Bank study has identified accessible and affordable childcare as a high-return investment that Cambodia can make to improve the quality of women’s work — and help them keep their jobs.

The study also finds that childcare investment would boost the human capital base needed by Cambodia’s demographic dividend of a young and expanding workforce unlike most economies in East Asia.

"At a median age of around 27 in 2025, Cambodia remains young with its working-age share still rising,” the bank says.

Published as part of a World Bank country economic update released Tuesday, the study notes that Cambodia has one of the highest female labour force participation rates in East Asia and the Pacific at 74 percent.

UNPAID DOMESTIC WORK AMONG HIGHEST IN ASEAN

“Yet, when it comes to quality of employment, women perform approximately 90 percent of unpaid domestic and care work — one of the highest rates in Southeast Asia — and are disproportionately concentrated in informal employment,” it says.

“Many women express that they would seek employment, or better employment, if reliable, affordable childcare were available, yet formal care for children under three remains low.”

ONLY 3 PERCENT OF INFANTS IN FORMAL CHILDCARE

According to the study, formal childcare is used by only around 3.2 percent of children under three, “leaving the vast majority of families reliant on informal care arrangements.”

Based on potential demand, the bank estimates that childcare could account for almost 400,000 jobs in Cambodia by 2030 with care for the elderly requiring a further 150,000 workers. 

According to studies in 22 countries, women’s participation in the labour force may already be high in poorer economies as informal work is compatible with caring for children at the same time.

BETTER WAGES, HOURS AND PROTECTION

“The real gains from childcare provision come through shifts in the type of work women do: from subsistence agriculture or petty trade, into formal employment with better wages, hours, and protections such as [parental] leave.

“This is precisely the transition that Cambodia needs,” the bank says.

SUB-DECREE ON NURSERY MANAGEMENT

The study notes the potential benefits from increased childcare investment under a sub-decree on the Management of Nurseries issued in December last year.

The sub-decree regulates community, enterprises and private nurseries caring for children from birth to less than six years of age. One of its aims is to ease the burden on parents so they can remain economically active.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

To estimate costs and returns for the public and private sectors implementing the sub-decree, the bank has done a cost-benefit analysis,

The analysis finds that benefit-cost ratios could range from 3.3 to 10.0 "with the strongest benefits arising from sustained maternal employment and improved child development outcomes.”

With childcare regulations now in place, “implementation remains the central challenge,” the bank says, noting that 72 percent of assessed factories do not comply with existing requirements.

Priorities include factory inspections, helping employers assess needs, guidance and incentives for setting up on-site or cluster-based centres, and piloting flexible operating hours.

“For firms, childcare is not only a compliance obligation but a productivity investment,” the bank says. “Employer-supported care reduces absenteeism and turnover and improves retention of experienced female workers.”

Expanding access to early-childhood education is “equally important” with Cambodia still lagging regional peers in the field of early childhood education.

CHILDCARE TRAINING

The bank urges Cambodia to develop certified studies for both child and elderly as part of the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) curriculum. "A trained childcare workforce underpins both service quality and the implementation of Cambodia’s childcare policy framework,” it says.

Indonesia and the Philippines are "already developing structured training pipelines to meet that demand,” the bank says, noting that the childcare sector could create 20 million jobs in East Asia and the Pacific by 2030.

LIMITED WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

“Cambodia, whose own population will begin aging in a couple of decades, has both the demographic profile and a limited window to compete for this market.

“The question is whether it builds the institutional foundations to do so before the opportunity is claimed by others.”

By Sao Da