Growing up alone: The childcare crisis trapping Dhaka’s working mothers

In Dhaka's slums, mothers dream of jobs, but "Who will watch the kids?" For thousands of women living in Bangladesh's urban settlements, this question is not a matter of convenience; it is the line between poverty and progress. 

Mothers may want to work, employers may be hiring, and the economy may be growing, but without someone to care for their children, the door to opportunity for mothers remains shut. The burden of unpaid care work globally exceeds 9% of global GDP, and in some countries, could exceed 40% of GDP.

Childcare as the missing link

Across Dhaka's low-income neighbourhoods, mothers repeatedly identified childcare as one of the biggest barriers to entering or staying in the workforce. The demand for work is there. The willingness to work is there. What's missing is enough childcare facilities. 

A BIGD survey conducted in January 2024 found that among 5,554 mothers who were either employed or intended to work in the future, 41% reported that they would keep their children at home in their absence, 23% indicated reliance on informal caregivers, and 22% preferred using a daycare centre. 

These responses highlight the latent demand for childcare support in these communities. Among the 931 mothers who were not willing to return to work, 45% reported that they preferred to care for their children, citing the absence of alternative caregivers.

By mid-2024, when a sub-sample of the same mothers was resurveyed, another layer emerged: one in four (24%) working mothers reported that their spouse or other family members had tried to prevent them from working. 

Women explained that husbands rarely forbade them outright, but imposed conditions—such as waiting until a child grows up, only working if household income fell short, or limiting the types of jobs considered acceptable. Many women framed their reasons for working in terms of family needs, reflecting how voice (desire to work) often exists without influence (the power to decide).

Failure of informal arrangements

In the absence of formal childcare, families rely on unstable, fragile, informal solutions. Some mothers leave their children with neighbours, who may be unwilling or unable to provide proper care. Others keep older daughters home (out of school) to babysit, sacrificing one child's education for another's safety. Many have no choice but to leave their children unattended in their homes with the doors locked. 

These arrangements are neither safe nor sustainable and add psychological stress to working mothers. They put children at risk, undermine development, and force mothers to trade economic independence for caregiving. More broadly, they reflect a persistent social assumption: that childcare is a private matter and that women, as the "knowing mothers," must dedicate themselves to it regardless of the hidden toll. Women are thus pressured to sacrifice their careers and well-being, while the economy loses out on their contributions.

Why are urban areas different

Urban poverty sharpens these challenges. In rural Bangladesh, extended kinship networks often share caregiving. In Dhaka's slums, nuclear families dominate, leaving mothers without reliable kin-based safety nets. BIGD data shows that 50.6% of women have no close family members available to care for their children, and another 31.6% have relatives willing to help but living elsewhere. 

Unlike wealthier urban families, low-income households cannot afford private caregivers. Compounding the problem is Dhaka's housing crisis. With overcrowded, single-room dwellings, there is little physical space to establish safe, community-based childcare. While policy documents often list childcare as a priority, urban planning rarely incorporates it into infrastructure, leaving paper commitments without practical implementation.

The result is what researchers call an urban childcare desert—a landscape where safe, affordable, and reliable childcare is nearly impossible to find. This desert does not just inconvenience families; it traps women at home, curtails labour force participation, and entrenches poverty.

This is not only about families; it is about national growth. Despite being celebrated as a development success, Bangladesh still faces stark gender gaps. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (2023) reports that only 43% of working-age females participate in the labour force, compared to 80% of males. Lack of childcare is one of the invisible barriers holding women back. 

The costs ripple outward. When women cannot work, they lose income, autonomy, and bargaining power within households. When children lack quality care, their development suffers, with long-term consequences on education and earnings. And when half the population's potential is blocked, the entire economy absorbs the loss.

Call to action

The aspirations of mothers in Dhaka's slums are simple: to work with dignity, earn an income, and support their families. Yet without childcare, these goals remain out of reach. If women's empowerment and inclusive growth are to be more than promises, childcare must move to the centre of policy.

Investing in childcare is not charity, it's smart economics. It bridges women's ambitions with national progress and must be treated as essential infrastructure, like roads or water. That means building public childcare centres in low-income areas, offering subsidies to ensure affordability, supporting home-based childcare providers through training and regulation, and partnering with employers, especially in sectors like garments, to provide reliable on-site care.

Sketch: TBS

Aloka Ahmed Oishy is a Research Associate and Raisa Adiba is a Senior Programme Coordinator at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.