Family-Friendly Workplaces - 2023 Impact and Achievements

Since The Centre’s founding over ten years ago, a key pillar of our work has been to improve working conditions for parents, grounded in our belief that the wellbeing of children is intrinsically connected to the working conditions of their parents and caregivers. Our journey to advancing family-friendly workplaces in global supply chains has been an encouraging one, albeit one not without challenges. The global pandemic, war in the Ukraine and geopolitics have contributed to a sense of nervousness and insecurity in supply chains. Despite this, The Centre is working with a growing number of buyers and their suppliers to help them become more family-friendly.

Our flagship WeCare programme is one of the key drivers of increased investments in family-friendly workplace practices, which is being implemented in a growing number of regions and sectors. Thanks to our clients’ recognition that investing in families brings positive returns for all involved stakeholders, we have been able to create benefits for over 30,000 parent workers, over 19,000 children, and establish 102 Child Friendly Spaces in factories and farms to accommodate children of workers during work hours.

Below, we’re proud to highlight some of the achievements and progress we have made in advancing family-friendly workplaces in global supply chains.

Highlights from our Family-Friendly Workplace Programmes in 2023

Parent Support

4,121 workers bonded with their children at a series of factory-organised Family Days at 6 factories as part of the 2023 WeCare programme.

2,198 workers attended parenting training to enhance parent-child communication and parenting skills.

117 fathers understand their role and responsibility as caregivers better now through parenting training for fathers.

Migrant Parent Support

60 workers participated in PhotoVoice where they learned to enhance communication and engagement with their children through photography and storytelling.

101 workers were given Smartwatches to facilitate more frequent communication with their children.

Emergency Support

In Türkiye, WeCare expanded to respond to the earthquakes.

2factories received training in earthquake preparedness (a first for WeCare) and

117workers received psychological counselling.

Female Worker Support

50 maternity-relating trainings were held in factories and production sites in 2023.

260 female workers received training in maternity protection, and 39 factory staff were also trained to continue supporting female workers over the long-term.

10 lactation rooms were set up in 3 factories to give nursing mothers a safe and comfortable space to express and store milk.

4 sexual harassment training sessions were held in factories, leading to 24 senior management being trained on providing adequate protection to female workers.

Child Friendly Spaces

1 new CFS was opened on a rattan farm in Indonesia for the first time to support rattan harvesting communities.

3 existing childcare centres were improved and expanded to give workers a free childcare solution and peace of mind at work.

41children benefitted and 24 staff were trained to continue running CFS.

To date, we know of 27 factories that continued operating the CFS they initiated with us in previous years.

Family-Friendly Workplace Initiatives and its Impact on Businesses

The following is a snapshot of three family-friendly workplace programmes we implemented for clients in 2023. These projects covered a range of parent worker activities including Migrant Parent Training, Photovoice, Smartwatch, and Family Day.

As a result of these initiatives, participants from all three projects reported:

Impact of Child Friendly Spaces

To date, The Centre has set up or assisted in expanding and improving 102
Child Friendly Spaces. Our pre and post-project surveys and evaluation from parent workers who have utilised these spaces in four such CFS in China indicate:

Milestones and Next Steps

Expansion to New Countries

This year we were proud to expand WeCare to new countries: the Philippines and Indonesia; we also expanded our activities in response to the devastating earthquake in Türkiye to provided targeted assistance to workers.

What sets our Programme Apart?

Our customisable family-friendly workplaces programmes respond to actual needs and promote both human rights due diligence and business investment. Longer employee retention enhances financial security and better supports workers' children, reducing the risk of child labour and school dropouts.

Our focus on training fathers is an example of our holistic approach. The father training challenges gender biases and encourages male caregivers to be more involved in their children’s growth and development, which brings benefits to the whole family.

Looking Forward

In 2024, we are planning to roll out WeCare in full or as separate WeCare modules in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Investing in family-friendly workplace programmes brings tangible, direct benefits to workers, their families and employers. By creating enabling environments for parents, employers can reap the long-term benefits of a more stable, motivated and efficient workforce.

We look forward to continuing working with buyers and their global suppliers to create more positive impact in 2024! 

Email us to discuss opportunities for collaboration and download our brochure below for more information and impact data.