Compass – A new study showed that 1.45 million children in Jordan do not have access to care services, 540,000 of them in Amman, indicating that Jordan needs 44,000 nurseries to meet the potential demand for child care services.

The study, presented by the Mashreq Women Empowerment Program of the World Bank, on evaluating the supply and demand for child care services in Jordan, and its preliminary results, showed that the Amman governorate needs about 16,000 nurseries to meet the potential demand, and provide care services for about 540 thousand children, while Tafila needs 419 to provide care for about 16,000 children.

The study presented government data in 2021, which showed that Jordan had 1,179 licensed nurseries, and 1,785 caregivers, while the number of children enrolled in nurseries was 12,191, where the percentage of children enrolled in nurseries was 1%.

Jordan needs approximately 44,289 new nurseries necessary; To provide care services to 1,477153 children who do not have access to them, and the expansion of 25% of the total children without services could contribute to creating 72,500 job opportunities for caregivers, according to a study presented by the consultant at the World Bank, Shirin Al-Abadi.

“The operating cost for each child enrolled in the nursery is 123.1 dinars in Amman, and 114.5 dinars in other governorates,” according to the study, which indicated that private nurseries “mostly depend on their own money to finance their business.”

She indicated that the operational costs of private nurseries significantly exceed the operational costs of governmental and institutional nurseries, explaining that “the rent is a relatively negative point for private nurseries, as it is the highest operational cost, and the cost of other nurseries is not borne by it.”

The study noted that “the rent paid by private nurseries in Amman is much higher than in other governorates; This affects the cost per child enrolled in nursery school.”

She indicated that “the gap between nurseries is very large in the salary item,” as the operational costs of home nurseries are much lower than other types of nurseries, and the absence of the salary item in home nurseries is a major reason for reducing operational costs to a large extent compared to private and institutional nurseries.

The study showed that low-income families are considered the least fortunate in accessing child care services in terms of price, location and potential discrimination against them.

She indicated that 75% of government nurseries and 37% of workplace nurseries are located in low-income neighborhoods, according to respondents’ self-reported income levels, while 73% of private and NGO nurseries are located in middle-income neighborhoods, and 7 % in low-income neighborhoods.

“Difficulties for Employers”

Regarding the difficulties faced by nursery owners in achieving the licensing requirements set by the Ministry of Social Development, the respondents indicated that “the garden area should not be less than 30 m3, that it be level and free of obstacles, and enclosed by a two-meter-high fence, and shade a third of the area from the sun, and that it be in Residential area according to the building code.”

Among the difficulties is also: “It has to be a separate ground floor (for non-institutional nurseries/ not located in the workplace) and has a separate outlet and separate sanitary and washing units. Wash separate, and is committed to waste management.”

The study showed that private nurseries usually adhere to regulations related to infrastructure, and there are no variables in their condition except the possibility of undesirable odors, and the extent of the nursery’s readiness to deal with persons with disabilities only.

With regard to employers, the study indicated that “employers in general are not fully aware of the family-friendly policies included in the legislation, and a large part of employers do not comply with the mandatory legislative requirements for childcare and do not plan to do so.”

It also indicated that “employers often do not see the need to provide child care solutions to their workers, and nearly half of the companies in the sample do not have access to appropriate child care centers near their workplaces, nor do they have a place in their workplace to set up a nursery Children”.

“Companies fear the legal consequences of childcare, in addition to the high costs of infrastructure to establish a nursery at the work site, and the cost of operating a nursery,” according to the study.

“Insufficient services”

Regarding the main results from the evaluation of the supply side, the study indicated that private nurseries provide about two-thirds of the seats available in licensed nurseries, and that the services are insufficient, which shows a large gap between the number of children under the age of five and the capacity of nurseries, and that some districts are completely devoid of any nurseries. licensed.

Low-income families are considered the least fortunate in accessing childcare services, and nurseries do not operate at full capacity, as the monthly price is negatively linked to the availability of vacant places, the level of neighborhood income and indicators of the quality of learning and human resources.

The study indicated that there is a gap in the monthly fees for services between private nurseries and other types, especially when comparing Amman with other governorates.

The investment costs of private nurseries are the highest, as are their operating costs, compared to other types of immunities. While the study confirmed, “there is no financial feasibility in working with immunities at a low capacity in light of the current cost structure.”

From the assessment of the demand side, one third of the women in the study sample receive regular assistance in child care, and the care services in nurseries constitute the majority of that, while private nurseries are considered the most used currently by the surveyed families and those who do not use child care services with general satisfaction with the services currently available

“The probability of receiving regular assistance in child care increases in the case of working women with high educational attainment and among high-income families,” according to the study, which indicated that mothers showed their desire to enroll their children in nurseries if appropriate services were available, while care responsibilities are an important factor for their entry into the labor market. Or stay in it, or get out of it.

The study indicated that “some families need after-school care services for their children in the first grades, and families are more concerned with the programs and rehabilitation of caregivers than the building, and families have a willingness to pay that is generally less than the current fees.”

The kingdom