Cooperative models ensuring affordable and accountable care options for informal women entrepreneurs in India
0-1 Original language
English
I-1 Name of the initiative
Cooperative models ensuring affordable and accountable care options for informal women entrepreneurs in India
I-2 Geographical coverage
IND
I-2-A Region/country
India
I-2-R Region
Asia and the Pacific
I-2-T Geographical scope
Country
I-3-A Initiative start date
1985
I-3-B Initiative end date
__EMPTY__
I-4 Leading entity/organization
Social and solidarity economy (SSE) entity
I-5 Collaborating entities/organizations
Government
I-5 Collaborating entities/organizations
Private enterprise
I-5 Collaborating entities/organizations
Civil society, including NGOs
I-6 Has the ILO been involved in the initiative?
No
I-7 Is there collaboration with other agencies of the United Nations System or other partners?
No
II-1 Justification of the initiative
The childcare services developed by the government under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme provided care for three to four hours per day. This did not allow women entrepreneurs, self-employed women, and workers to engage in full-time work. For the remaining hours, women entrepreneurs lacked affordable and accessible childcare options. In other words, there was a mismatch between the supply of childcare services and the demand for them.
II-10 Focus on other branches of economic activity
No sectoral focus
II-11 Focus on certain categories of enterprises or economic units according to their size
Micro enterprises
II-11 Focus on certain categories of enterprises or economic units according to their size
Cooperatives
II-11 Focus on certain categories of enterprises or economic units according to their size
Social enterprises
II-12 Focus on specific status in employment
Own-account workers
II-13 Focus on other specific categories of workers and employers, not captured elsewhere
Childcare workers (for children ages 0-start of primary school)
II-13 Focus on other specific categories of workers and employers, not captured elsewhere
Workers in the informal economy
II-14 Focus on specific groups of population / persons prioritized in the initiative
Women
II-14 Focus on specific groups of population / persons prioritized in the initiative
Mothers
II-15 Has the initiative been developed through effective social dialogue processes and inter-institutional coordination mechanisms?
No
II-2 Objectives and description of the initiative
The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) mobilized itself to complement the childcare services provided by the government under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme.
II-3 Type of initiative
Project / pilot intervention
II-4 Which of the Rs in the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work guides this initiative?
Recognition, reduction and redistribution of unpaid care
II-4 Which of the Rs in the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work guides this initiative?
Reward care workers
II-4 Which of the Rs in the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work guides this initiative?
Representation of care workers
II-5 Which is the main policy area of the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work does the practice focus on?
Care policies
II-6 Which other policy areas of the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work does the practice focus on?
Social Protection policies
II-6 Which other policy areas of the 5R Framework for Decent Care Work does the practice focus on?
Labour Protection policies
II-7 Which policies or measures to advance decent work in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Formalization of informal care jobs and enterprises
II-7 Which policies or measures to advance decent work in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Addressing the unequal gender distribution of paid and unpaid work, and promoting women’s economic inclusion and autonomy beyond caregiving
II-7 Which policies or measures to advance decent work in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and SSE entities that deliver quality care services
II-7 Which policies or measures to advance decent work in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Promoting the voice and representation of, and consulting with, care worker organizations, organizations of employers of care workers and unpaid family carers
II-8 Which beneficiaries in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Unpaid carers (workers or persons with care responsibilities, parents, other family members, etc.)
II-8 Which beneficiaries in the care economy does the practice focus on?
Paid care workers (nurses, domestic workers, teachers, childcare workers, personal assistants, etc.)
II-9 Geographical scope
Urban
III-1 In a short paragraph, summarize the main results and impacts obtained
SEWA created the Sangini Child Care Workers’ Cooperative (SCCWC) in Ahmedabad in 1986. The cooperative is co-owned and co-run by the women entrepreneurs who use its services and the childcare workers who operate it. It runs 11 childcare centres in the city, providing day care from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for around 300 children. SEWA members can enrol their children at a centre at a low cost (about $4 a month), and operating costs are mainly covered by other SEWA revenues, donor funding, public subsidies, and private donations.
III-2 Explanation of the innovative element of the initiative for advancing decent work in the care economy
This model aims to ensure mutual accountability between carers and parents, as well as high-quality care for children. At the same time, it has created stable employment opportunities for childcare workers, who play an active role in running and governing the cooperative—demonstrating a sustainable, community-driven approach to strengthening both care provision and women’s livelihoods.
IV-1 What were the main challenges or difficulties during the design and implementation? How were they faced/ addressed?
A key challenge during the design and implementation phases was ensuring that childcare services were both affordable for low-income informal workers and financially sustainable. Parents’ fees cover only a small share of actual costs—about one-third, according to evidence from Sangini centres—requiring the cooperative to secure additional subsidies from SEWA ventures, government programmes, and private donors. This challenge was addressed by diversifying funding streams and integrating the childcare cooperative into SEWA’s wider ecosystem of cooperatives and social enterprises.Another challenge was building the governance capacity of caregivers and mothers to co-manage the centres democratically; SEWA responded through training, regular parent–teacher meetings, and support from the SEWA Cooperative Federation to strengthen cooperative management.Finally, childcare workers and families faced pressures during external shocks such as COVID-19, which disrupted income and service continuity. Sangini addressed this through emergency food distribution, wage support for workers, the promotion of alternative livelihood options, and community outreach to maintain child nutrition and family stability.
IV-2 Lessons learned and good practices, including room and opportunities for improvement
SEWA’s cooperative model shows that when users and providers co-own and co-govern services, childcare provision becomes more responsive, more trusted, and of higher quality. Embedding childcare within women’s economic organizations can simultaneously address care needs and strengthen collective agency.
IV-3 Key conditions for success
Success hinged on SEWA’s strong grassroots membership base and organizing capacity, which enabled the mobilization of women entrepreneurs and self-employed women workers around a shared childcare solution. The cooperative structure fostered mutual accountability between parents and childcare workers, supporting service quality and reliability. Affordable user fees, combined with diversified financing (SEWA revenues, public subsidies, and donor and private funds), ensured access for low-income women while maintaining operational viability. Extended operating hours that matched women’s work patterns were essential to making childcare a meaningful enabler of economic participation.
IV-4 Key conditions for sustainability
Sustainability rests on the cooperative’s governance model, which embeds ownership and decision-making among both service users and workers, creating incentives for long-term commitment and quality improvement. Financial sustainability is strengthened through mixed revenue streams that reduce reliance on any single funding source. The creation of stable, decent work for childcare workers supports continuity of service and institutional memory. Ongoing engagement with public systems (e.g., subsidies and alignment with ICDS) helps anchor the model within broader social protection and childcare ecosystems.
IV-5 Potential for transferability, expansion and replicability in other countries and contexts
So far, Sangini centres are located in a single city, which is also SEWA’s headquarters. Replication in other states and cities requires strong women’s collectives or cooperatives capable of mobilizing members, managing services, and ensuring accountability. Cooperatives, supported by trade unions and labour rights organizations, can also help enable decent work for care workers.Expansion within cities can build on hub-and-spoke childcare centres linked to women’s workplaces or markets, but this would require tailoring governance, financing mixes, and regulatory compliance to local childcare standards and cooperative laws. Setting up childcare centres also requires infrastructure investment, which can be a key challenge for smaller cooperatives and worker-led models. To address this, multi-stakeholder models—where employers and state institutions partner and co-contribute—can help enable affordable, high-quality care, allowing women entrepreneurs, self-employed women, home-based workers, and other informal workers to engage in full-time work.
V-1 Sources of information and documents used on the characteristics of the initiative, including links to websites, news items, toolkits, policy documents or reports
ILO. 2022. Childcare leave and services from a women’s entrepreneurship development perspective.SEWA Sangini Child Care Workers’ CooperativeSEWA Sangini Cooperative: Providing Child Care for Women Informal Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in IndiaChildcare co-ops: Caring for the movement's youngest during Covid-19ILO and WIEGO Policy Brief Series: Childcare for workers in the informal economy