Straschnoy, M. & Schenone, D. (2026) Tiempo para mujeres: de lo local a las políticas transformadoras. Evaluación de experiencias de cuidado infantil en Río Grande, Argentina [Policy brief]. Proyecto Iniciativas para fortalecer las políticas de cuidado en América Latina y el Caribe.

Within this framework, the Latin American Justice and Gender Team (ELA) evaluated two care programs implemented by the Secretariat of Gender and Community Development of the Municipality of Río Grande. The city’s specific territorial characteristics—the presence of migrant families with limited support networks, the great distances between neighborhoods, access to transportation, and weather conditions—make it particularly important to analyze which factors facilitate or hinder access to and use of these services.

The evaluation found that care needs do not automatically translate into using available services. Participating families’ perceptions reveal persistent barriers related to accessibility, connectivity, weather, culture, predictability, stability, and trust in the facilities and those who work there—barriers that constrain access and limit these policies’ transformative potential. At the same time, the results show that care facilities are valued because they help expand women’s autonomy, strengthen families’ support networks, and promote child development. These findings provide relevant evidence for strengthening local care policies and guiding the design of similar interventions in other regions.