Overview and Impact of the 2019 Child Friendly Spaces Programme in China

In 2019, The Centre (formerly ‘CCR CSR’) opened 32 new Child Friendly Spaces in China for 11 brands and partners. Since the programme piloted in 2015, 77 factories in total have joined the programme. 

CFS is a factory-based facility that provides a safe environment for the children of workers to play, access learning opportunities, develop social skills and strengthen parent-child relationships in the summer months when parents work.

The programme addresses a key challenge for parent workers and factories: namely providing a childcare facility for the children of workers during the summer when schools are closed. Without CFS, children often end up being left unsupervised at home or in worker dorms all day leaving the parents worried and anxious at work. In extreme cases, children accompany their parents to the production floor to pass the time. Migrant parents whose children have stayed behind with the grandparents also worry during this time, with reports of accidents involving left-behind children rising sharply during the summer months. Not surprisingly, turnover and absenteeism rates spike during this time as parents grapple to take care of their children. 

The Centre’s Child Friendly Spaces programme has not only provided a safe, fun space for children to pass their summer and reunited families who would otherwise have spent the summer living apart, it has helped increase efficiency and minimise risks at the factory. The wide-ranging positive impact from the CFS programme is directly reflected in its year-by-year growth: more and more brands and suppliers are seeing that CFS is a win-win solution for all. 

FEEDBACK FROM BRANDS AND PARTNERS OF THE 2019 CFS PROGRAMME

GENERAL FEEDBACK FROM THE 2019 CFS PROGRAMME

IMPACT ON PARTICIPATING PARENTS:

IMPACT ON PARTICIPATING CHILDREN: 

IMPACT ON WORKER TRUST AND SATISFACTION:

IMPACT ON RETENTION: 

IMPACT ON NON-BENEFICIARIES OF THE PROGRAMME: 

Although migrant parent workers, children and factories were the direct beneficiaries of the programme, positive changes among non-beneficiaries of the CFS programme were also observed, supporting the hypothesis that workers of all backgrounds think more positively about their employer when they can see that the factory takes tangible steps to support workers and their families. The charts below highlight some of the areas where positive impact on non-beneficiaries were observed.

Read more about our 2019 programme:

Stories documenting this year’s programme from the perspective of factory management and workers can be found in our regularly updated stories section. 

A short film about the programme can be viewed here and here. 

The Centre warmly invite you to contact us to explore the possibility of opening a Child Friendly Space at your supplier factory/factories in 2020/2021.