Study: Kenya could unlock Sh3.1 trillion gains via care infrastructure investment
Key points
- A study says care infrastructure investment could unlock about Sh3.1 trillion in economic gains.
- Net benefits are projected near Sh2.3 trillion, with strong returns per shilling invested.
- Care work — childcare, eldercare, disability support — underpins paid labour markets.
Invisible labour holds the formal economy up. Eastleigh Voice reports a study arguing Kenya could unlock Sh3.1 trillion economic gains through care infrastructure investment, with projected net benefits of about Sh2.3 trillion and high returns per shilling spent.
When childcare and eldercare are scarce, women exit jobs and GDP silently shrinks. Public creches, community care centres and training for care workers are industrial policy as much as social policy.
How to spend well
Target informal settlements and rural wards, set quality standards, and pay care workers fairly so the sector is not unpaid family exhaustion rebranded. Link to SHA and county health systems.
Debt-constrained Budgets need prioritisation: care ROI arguments should face the same scrutiny as roads — and the same honesty about financing.
Equity
Care infrastructure reduces poverty traps and supports the squeezed middle. It is not a luxury for rich suburbs alone.
Social policy contacts: directory.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of the study’s projections; models depend on assumptions in the full paper.