Maternal Employment and Childcare Arrangements in Indonesia: The Needs for Childcare Support Policies

Michelle Andrina

Abstract

Women need childcare supports to maximize their potential to contribute to their economy. This article aims to investigate childcare arrangement practices among families whose working mothers and identify the necessities to support them in their work lives. This study employs explanatory sequential mixed methodsQuantitative data were collected from Indonesia's Socio-Cultural and Education Module of the 2018 National Socio-Economic Survey. Qualitative data resulted from interviews with working mothers are applied as complementary for the quantitative findings to result contextual understandings concerning necessary supports from the government. Findings show that most families rely on grandparents to supervise the toddlers, while some others trust the older siblings, who possibly not be matured yet. Working mothers require affordable daycare as a safe place for their children as well as to ease their families’ burdens.  As more women become parts of the workforce, it is crucial for the government to provide inexpensive public daycares, especially for families with limited resources. In addition, the government should promote the provision of lactation rooms and child-friendly spaces, launch social media campaigns, and conduct community events to educate society concerning children's rights and safety, equal responsibilities between men and women, and accommodative working arrangements.

Keywords

maternal employment; childcare arrangements; non-adult supervision; childcare supports policies

Full Text:

PDF

References

Aarntzen, Lianne, Tanja van der Lippe, Elianne van Steenbergen, and Belle Derks. 2021. “How Individual Gender Role Beliefs, Organizational Gender Norms, and National Gender Norms Predict Parents’ Work-Family Guilt in Europe.” Community, Work and Family 24(2):120–42. doi: 10.1080/13668803.2020.1816901.

Becker, Gary S. 1985. “Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor.” Source: Journal of Labor Economics 3(1):33–58.

Blau, David M., and Philip K. Robins. 1991. “Child Care Demand and Labor Supply of Young Mothers over Time*.” Demography 28(3):333–51.

Chen, Feinian, Luoman Bao, Zhiyong Lin, Zachary Zimmer, Socorro Gultiano, and Judith B. Borja. 2018. “Double Burden for Women in Mid- and Later Life: Evidence from Time-Use Profiles in Cebu, the Philippines.” Pp. 2325–55 in Ageing and Society. Vol. 38. Cambridge University Press.

CIPS, and Prospera. 2022. Designing Better Childcare for Women, Children and Inclusive Recovery in Urban Indonesia and Beyond.

Coohey, Carol. 2003. “Defining and Classifying Supervisory Neglect.” Child Maltreatment 8(2):145–56. doi: 10.1177/1077559502250786.

Coohey, Carol. 2007. “Social Networks, Informal Child Care, and Inadequate Supervision by Mothers.” Child Welfare 86(6):53–66.

Fauziningtyas, Rista, Retno Indarwati, Delisa Alfriani, Joni Haryanto, Elida Ulfiana, Ferry Efendi, Nursalam Nursalam, and Khatijah Lim Abdullah. 2019. “The Experiences of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Indonesia.” Working with Older People 23(1):17–26. doi: 10.1108/WWOP-10-2018-0019.

Ford, M., and Nurchayati. 2017. “Indonesia: Middle-Class Complicity and State Failure to Provide Care.” Pp. 71–86 in Women, Work and Care in the Asia-Pacific, edited by M. Baird, Michele Ford, and E. Hill. New York: Routledge.

Gonzalez, Emilia, and Mónica Ruiz-Casares. 2022. “Negotiating Child Agency in Childcare Practices among Immigrant Families.” Child and Family Social Work 27(2):195–205. doi: 10.1111/cfs.12869.

Grégoire-Labrecque, Geneviève, Vicky Lafantaisie, Nico Trocmé, Carl Lacharité, Patricia Li, Geneviève Audet, Richard Sullivan, and Mónica Ruiz-Casares. 2020. “‘Are We Talking as Professionals or as Parents?’ Complementary Views on Supervisory Neglect among Professionals Working with Families in Quebec, Canada.” Children and Youth Services Review 118. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105407.

Heckman, James J. 1974. “Effects of Child-Care Programs on Women’s Work Effort.” Pp. 491–524 in Economics of the Family: Marriage, Children, and Human Capital , edited by T. W. Schultz.

Heymann, Jody. 2000. “What Happens during and after School: Conditions Faced by Working Parents Living in Poverty and Their School-Aged Children.” Journal of Children and Poverty 6(1):5–20. doi: 10.1080/713675956.

Hochschild, Arlie Russell, and Anne Machung. 2003. The Second Shift. New York: Penguin Books.

Klassen, Christina L., Emilia Gonzalez, Richard Sullivan, and Mónica Ruiz-Casares. 2022. “‘I’m Just Asking You to Keep an Ear out’: Parents’ and Children’s Perspectives on Caregiving and Community Support in the Context of Migration to Canada.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 48(11):2762–80. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1707647.

Miconi, Diana, Irene Beeman, Emilie Robert, Jesse Beatson, and Mónica Ruiz-Casares. 2018. “Child Supervision in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.” Children and Youth Services Review 89:226–42. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.04.040.

Raley, Sara, Suzanne M. Bianchi, and Wendy Wang. 2012. “When Do Fathers Care? Mothers’ Economic Contribution and Fathers’ Involvement in Child Care.” American Journal of Sociology 117(5):1422–59. doi: 10.1086/663354.

Ruiz-Casares, Mónica, and Jody Heymann. 2009. “Children Home Alone Unsupervised: Modeling Parental Decisions and Associated Factors in Botswana, Mexico, and Vietnam.” Child Abuse and Neglect 33(5):312–23. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2008.09.010.

Ruiz-Casares, Mónica, José Ignacio Nazif-Muñoz, René Iwo, and Youssef Oulhote. 2018. “Nonadult Supervision of Children in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: Results from 61 National Population-Based Surveys.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15(8). doi: 10.3390/ijerph15081564.

Ruiz-Casares, Mónica, Nico Trocmé, and Barbara Fallon. 2012. “Supervisory Neglect and Risk of Harm. Evidence from the Canadian Child Welfare System.” Child Abuse and Neglect 36(6):471–80. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.03.005.

Trocmé, Nico., B. ,. Fallon, B. ,. MacLaurin, J. ,. Daciuk, C. ,. Felstiner, T. ,. Black, and R. Cloutier. 2005. The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2003 (CIS-2003): Major Findings. Public Health Agency of Canada.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2022. Child Maltreatment 2020.

Usui, Chikako, Suzanna Rose, and Reiko Kageyama. 2003. “Women, Institutions, and Leadership in Japan.” Source: Asian Perspective 27(3):85–123.

Utomo, Ariane J. 2018. “Revisiting Trends in Female Labor Force Participation in Indonesia. [Meninjau Kembali Tren Partisipasi Angkatan Kerja Perempuan Di Indonesia].” Jurnal Perempuan 23(4):193–202.

White, James M., David M. Klein, and Todd F. Martin. 2015. Family Theories: An Introduction. Fourth Edition. California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Copyright (c) 2023 Masyarakat Indonesia
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.