ILO: Mapping childcare demand and supply in Moldova – a replicable model for municipalities

The International Labour Organization (ILO) works with its tripartite constituents (the Government, Workers’ and Employers’ organisations) in Moldova to advance decent work, gender equality and inclusive economic development. One of its areas of work in the country is strengthening the childcare sector – making care services more affordable, improving working conditions for care workers and expanding economic opportunities for women.

This intervention is part of a broader ILO initiative funded by Swiss Government covering six of Moldova’s growth pole municipalities: Ungheni, Cahul, Comrat, Orhei, Soroca and Edineț. Civitta’s role was to develop and apply a replicable methodology for mapping and assessing childcare demand and supply for children under three – helping municipalities understand local needs, identify gaps and prepare practical roadmaps for expanding and diversifying services.

Access to childcare for children under three is a significant barrier for families across Moldova. The shortage of affordable, reliable and flexible services limits children’s early development and constrains parents’ ability to work – particularly that of mothers’.

The challenge was also structural. Moldova needed a planning model that could be applied consistently across different cities while still reflecting each municipality’s specific reality. Ungheni, Cahul, Comrat and Orhei each have different childcare ecosystems – different public services, informal care practices, employer interest, infrastructure, municipal capacity and family needs.

The methodology had to be both standardised and flexible: generating comparable evidence across municipalities while allowing for local adaptation. The goal was not just to describe gaps, but to help each municipality identify service models that are practical, costed and legally feasible.

Civitta developed a methodology built around four dimensions: availability, accessibility, equity and quality. It reflects Moldova’s legal framework on alternative childcare and is designed to produce solutions that are realistic for local authorities, families, employers and potential care providers.

The methodology was first piloted in Ungheni in 2025, then applied in Cahul and Comrat in 2026, with Orhei covered under the current assignment.

Civitta applied a mixed-methods, evidence-based approach combining secondary data analysis, surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The team gathered perspectives from parents and caregivers, employers, women interested in providing childcare, local authorities and existing service providers – building a picture of both the supply and demand sides of each municipality’s childcare ecosystem.

In Ungheni, Civitta piloted and validated the methodology through data collection, stakeholder consultations, service gap assessment and roadmap development. The approach was then applied in Cahul and Comrat. For Cahul, Civitta produced a needs assessment report and a roadmap covering service models, costings, business plans and implementation strategies. For Comrat, Civitta supported the development of a municipal childcare development roadmap focused on expanding access, diversifying services and identifying feasible local implementation options.

Across all municipalities, the team translated research findings into practical planning tools – assessing existing services, identifying gaps and proposing service models that municipalities could pilot with public, private and community partners.

Civitta delivered a replicable municipal planning model covering local mapping, data collection, stakeholder consultations, gap analysis, service model design and roadmap development.

Each municipality received a clear picture of how its childcare system works in practice – covering public, private and informal services, waiting lists, territorial access, affordability, quality, staffing and the needs of families, employers and potential providers. Alongside this, each municipality received a practical roadmap proposing feasible service models, implementation steps, stakeholder roles and cost considerations.

A consistent finding across municipalities was that childcare for children under three cannot rely on a single service format. Local authorities need a mix of options: public nursery expansion, family-type care, home-based care, employer-supported childcare, flexible or part-time services and extended-hours care.

The assignment gave ILO and local partners a shared framework for planning childcare services across the growth pole cities, while allowing each municipality to adapt the proposed solutions to its own infrastructure, budget, workforce and family needs. The work also helped position childcare as a municipal development priority – connecting it explicitly to women’s employment, child wellbeing, local economic development and social inclusion.

1. Childcare is a local development issue: it affects families, employers, women’s participation in the labour market, child development and municipal competitiveness – not just social services budgets.
2. Municipalities need reliable evidence before investing: data on demand, supply, informal care, service quality, affordability and local barriers is essential for making informed decisions about where and how to expand.
3. One service model is never enough: parents may need full-day care, part-time care, home-based care, employer-supported care, emergency care or services outside standard working hours – any realistic plan has to reflect this.
4. Alternative childcare services require trust: parents need clear information, quality standards, trained caregivers and visible oversight mechanisms before they will use new services.
5. Connecting research, policy and implementation is where the real value lies: Civitta translated complex local data into practical roadmaps, service models, costings and implementation responsibilities – making the findings usable for decision-makers at every level.