Worldwide, there is a wide gap between what women can contribute to the economy and what they actually contribute. One of the main barriers to women’s engagement in the labor market and productivity at work is the societal expectation that they should take care of their children in addition to meeting the demands of employment. Furthermore, those in informal employment face difficulties due to long working hours and environments that are not appropriate for childcare. To address this, Kidogo runs an innovative “Hub & Spoke” model for low-income communities. Here, we present a study protocol aimed at evaluating whether the provision of quality childcare opportunities for working women through the Kidogo model is feasible and acceptable and whether it contributes to improvements in their incomes and productivity at work. The study reported in this protocol which is currently ongoing, employed a quasi-experimental design with two study arms: primary caregivers who use childcare services were recruited into the intervention (n = 170) and comparison groups (n = 170). Both groups are being followed up for one year. We are using a mixed-methods approach. Appropriate statistical methods including a difference-in-differences (DID) estimator will be used to analyze the effects of the intervention. We expect that the intervention will improve the quality of childcare services which in turn will improve the incomes of the center providers. We expect that providing improved childcare services will enhance women’s economic empowerment.

Trial registration: PACTR202107762759962.

在世界范围内，女性可以为经济做出的贡献与她们实际做出的贡献之间存在巨大差距。妇女参与劳动力市场和提高工作效率的主要障碍之一是社会期望她们除了满足就业需求外还应该照顾孩子。此外，非正规就业者由于工作时间长和不适合育儿的环境而面临困难。为了解决这个问题，Kidogo 为低收入社区运行了一种创新的“Hub & Spoke”模式。在这里，我们提出了一项研究方案，旨在评估通过 Kidogo 模式为职业女性提供优质育儿机会是否可行和可接受，以及它是否有助于提高她们的收入和工作效率。n  = 170）和对照组（n  = 170）。两组都被跟踪一年。我们正在使用混合方法。将使用适当的统计方法，包括差异中的差异 (DID) 估计器来分析干预的效果。我们预计干预措施将提高托儿服务的质量，从而提高中心提供者的收入。我们预计，提供更好的托儿服务将增强妇女的经济权能。

试用注册： PACTR202107762759962。