This study explores the impact of SIEMPRE Centres on gender norms and the social organisation of care work in Uruguay. It combines a quantitative analysis of available household surveys with a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with trade union and business representatives, educational and management teams, and focus groups with male and female family members from two centres in the nation’s interior, where gender norms tend to be more deeply ingrained.

SIEMPRE Centres are education and care services operating within Uruguay’s National Care System. They are interinstitutional in nature and cater to children and families through a co-responsibility agreement between the private sector (businesses, trade unions or educational institutions), the community and the state. Their aim is to promote children’s rights and their holistic development while accommodating family work and study commitments by offering care services for up to 12 hours a day. Children may remain at SIEMPRE Centres for a maximum of eight hours per day.

The study examines the extent to which SIEMPRE Centres have contributed to shifting gender
norms around the sexual division of labour and the social organisation of care, which in Uruguay has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of women (INMUJERES and INE, 2022). It also explores the effects of the centres on the recognition, redistribution and reduction of care work and how these changes influence women’s autonomy.

This report highlights four key findings. First, SIEMPRE Centres help to reduce the unequal distribution of care work within families by the defamilialisation of care. Second, they partially contribute to increasing recognition of care work by highlighting the importance of public policies that promote co-responsibility for family well-being. Furthermore, by freeing up time, these centres have an impact on representation, creating more favourable conditions for women to participate

in collective spheres. However, this does not necessarily translate into greater representation or leadership roles for women in decision-making spaces.

Third, SIEMPRE Centres do not significantly redistribute care within families, nor do they enhance recognition of the unpaid care work predominantly carried out by women in households. This is evidenced both in the survey data and in the testimonies collected. However, it is possible to argue that the centres’ model – designed to accommodate dual-earner families – encourages some shifts in everyday childcare and caregiving practices, as reported in some accounts. It would be relevant to assess whether such shifts in practice also contribute to transforming the gender norms that sustain inequality, a question that falls beyond the scope of this study.

While some key public policy interventions exist to promote gender co-responsibility, such as the Committed Parenting programme (Parentalidades Comprometidas), further efforts are needed. In particular, the lack of concrete tools and actions to foster gender co-responsibility within families, coupled with the absence of specific training for public officials on these issues, often reinforces the role of women as primary caregivers in the home.

One effort to address this issue has been the Caring with Equality Seal (Sello Cuidando con Igualdad), a government-led certification designed to promote gender equality in early childhood care centres by encouraging best practices in education and caregiving. However, the programme has not been implemented during the current government term (2020–2025).