Friendly workplaces for working mothers

This project studies a specific policy intended to make workplaces more supportive of women’s needs, which in turn may increase women’s labor force participation, productivity and well-being: the creation of lactation rooms in the workplace to allow women to better combine work and breastfeeding. Kenya passed a law requiring employers all over the country to secure breastfeeding-friendly workplaces by establishing lactation rooms. However, compliance with the law is extremely low. This project aims to i) test solutions to increase compliance with the law by providing monetary incentives as well as giving symbolic mandates to committees created for the purpose, ii) compare the effectiveness of mixed-gender versus only-women committees in the creation of women-friendly workplaces and iii) study the effect of lactation rooms on breastfeeding, women’s labor force participation, working hours, productivity and wellbeing at the workplace. We received pilot funding one year ago and we successfully implemented a similar intervention across 30 schools in Nairobi. This proposal aims at expanding the project across the country.