Child - Lens Investing
Insights from the 2025
Microfinance Index
About This Report
Introduction
This report explores the impact of microfinance on children's well -being as part of the 2025 60 Decibels Microfinance Index (MFI Index), the world's largest financial inclusion study grounded in client voice. Drawing on direct feedback from thousands of borrowers across multiple countries and regions, this analysis examines how microcredit affects not only clients themselves, but the children in their households - an area where evidence has historically been limited despite its significance for understanding the full reach and impact of financial inclusion.
This report represents the second phase of 60 Decibels' collaboration with UNICEF USA - the first focused on the design and development of the Child -Lens Investing (CLI) module questions, aligned with UNICEF's Child -Lens Investing Framework and inspired by UNICEF's strategic priorities to meet the needs of vulnerable children worldwide.
In this phase, the module was applied to interviews with a subset of MFI Index 2025 clients, covering education, health, nutrition, housing, and child protection outcomes. These indicators enable an indirect assessment of how financial inclusion translates into child well -being, providing investors and Financial Service Providers with actionable benchmarks to identify, compare, and strengthen their impact on children.
The report pursues two complementary objectives. First, to identify meaningful differences in household impact between caregiver and non -caregiver families, comparing outcomes across business income, financial resilience, savings, quality of life, healthcare access, and other key indicators to understand how the presence of children shapes the way clients use and benefit from financial services. By segmenting MFI Index data along this dimension, the analysis reveals patterns that are often invisible in aggregate reporting: how family responsibilities influence loan usage, how financial gains translate into household stability, and where regional and demographic factors create divergent outcomes for children and their families.
Second, the study surfaces insights from the ChildLens Investing module, a specialized set of indicators developed in collaboration between 60 Decibels and UNICEF USA, with advisory support from VisionFund and Global Partnerships.
Together, these two views offer a comprehensive picture: one showing how household dynamics shift when children are present, and another measuring the specific pathways through which microcredit reaches children's lives.
This data was collected as part of the 2025 MFI Index. For a fuller discussion of the potential biases this data may be subject to and the measures taken to address them, please refer to page 12 of the 2025 MFI Index Report .
To limit response bias, respondents are informed at the outset that the survey is anonymous and conducted by 60 Decibels, an independent research firm, on behalf of their FSP. Questions are designed to avoid leading or suggestive framing.
The insights presented here are grounded in widely accepted standards for social research, and should be read as what they are, a rigorous but preliminary set of findings drawn from client surveys, designed to inform and guide, rather than to serve as definitive causal conclusions. Where patterns in the data suggest a relationship between variables, these are presented as observations and interpretations, not established causal links.
The findings are intended to inform Financial Service Providers, impact investors, and sector stakeholders seeking to understand and improve the generational impact of their work, and to demonstrate how understanding child impacts can reveal actionable insights highly relevant to their business and investment models.
Executive Summary
1
Caregivers turn business loans into stronger financial capabilities.
Caregivers use loans for business purposes at higher rates than non -caregivers (84% vs. 73%), and this translates into results: 30% report significant business income growth, compared to 22% of non -caregivers. The gains extend beyond income - caregivers report less financial stress (27% report a significant decrease compared to 22% of non-caregivers), stronger financial management (37% vs. 21%), and concrete improvements in budgeting, saving, and paying expenses on time. The pattern suggests that family responsibilities shape more deliberate loan usage, transforming credit access into sustainable household support.
2
Beyond financial resilience, caregivers report stronger quality of life and household outcomes than noncaregivers.
Both groups face similar vulnerability to unexpected expenses, but caregivers show stronger improvements: 72% credit their loans with improving their ability to prepare for financial shocks (vs. 61% of noncaregivers), and 20% report significant increases in savings (vs. 13%). These gains extend into household life. When asked about specific areas of household spending, caregivers report stronger outcomes than non-caregivers across home renovations (27% report significant increases vs. 20%), meal quality (20% vs. 13%), and healthcare access (19% vs. 13%). For children, this resilience is foundational - when caregivers build savings and are better prepared for shocks, the benefits create household stability that allows families to prioritize investments in their children's long -term development.
3
4
Financial access translates into child well-being gains, though regional priorities and child labor outcomes diverge.
75% of caregivers report improved children's well-being as a result of the loans. When asked to name the single most significant change in their children's lives, three themes dominate: education, improved living conditions, and the ability to meet basic needs. Geography shapes how these gains materialize. When asked to name the single most significant change in their children's lives, 62% of caregivers in Africa cite education; in Latin America, 43% cite improved living conditions; in Asia, the focus is on basic needs (38%) and nutrition (28%). A critical divergence emerges in child labor. In Africa, 25% of households report children's involvement in hazardous work, compared to 11% in Latin America and 3% in Asia. This 22 percentage point gap between Africa and Asia signals that while financial services may support child well -being investments, deeper systemic challenges around child protection require solutions beyond credit alone.
Female caregivers report stronger outcomes than males in business income, savings, and quality of life. Rural households lead urban ones in child well -being and school attendance.
Women caregivers outperform men across quality of life (90% report overall improvements vs. 82%), business income (89% vs. 80%), savings (72% vs. 63%), and financial resilience (75% vs. 66%), though differences narrow for significant changes. Rural households report stronger improvements in child well -being (76% vs. 72% of urban caregivers) and school attendance (53% vs. 41%). Identifying whether the stronger outcomes among women and rural caregivers are driven by spending priorities, decision -making dynamics, or engagement with additional services could help FSPs design targeted interventions that replicate these results across broader client segments.
Performance Snapshot
We surveyed 23,764 microfinance clients from 85 FSPs through phone interviews conducted by 60 Decibels enumerators. This performance snapshot provides an overview of results reported by these clients at the caregiver vs. non -caregiver level.
Caregivers consistently score higher than both noncaregivers and the 60dB Benchmarks across access, business and household impact, resilience, and agency. Client protection metrics show smaller, more mixed differences between groups.
*60dB Microfinance Benchmarks include data from over 54 countries, 271 institutions, and 114,939 respondents.
Caregivers’ voices
The voices below capture both the gains and the risks that microfinance creates for children, reinforcing why child well -being should be a core consideration in impact investment decisions.
“ My daughter eats the best there is, she doesn't miss meals due to financial situations, and she also has access to education. I used to be afraid that I wouldn't be able to give this to my daughter. ”
- Female , 45 years old , Mozambique
“Our home life has become much more stable, which has been amazing for my younger children. With this stability, they've been able to feel more secure.”
- Male, 45 years old , Nigeria
“ I had to transfer my children from private school to public school because we could no longer afford the tuition. Our current priority is to pay back the loan. Unfortunately, since the transition to public school, their academic performance has drastically declined, and I must admit that I am very saddened by this situation.”
- Female, 42 years old, Nigeria
“ The change now is that my children can join school activities like English and computer extracurriculars, and I can buy all the practice books that they need, like a dictionary. Their meals are also better and more nutritious now .”
- Female , 36 years old , Indonesia
“ As a parent, you know that once you're done paying the installments to the bank, that money can go into savings. For me, it created a saving habit, and as a mom, I've built a foundation. Now I know I can save 200,000 or 50,000 pesos in case anything comes up, such as needing to take them to the hospital. ”
- Female , 43 years old , Colombia
“ We took a business loan, and the business is closed now. We have to work for the loan repayment, so other expenses are very hard to fulfill. We stopped schooling because of the hardship.”
- Female, 40 years old, India
“ I’ve noticed a difference, as they feel better and relieved to be able to use the bathroom in peace without having to expose themselves out in the woods. ”
- Male, 42 years old , El Salvador
“ My children have no stress of being chased home for school fees. Because of [FSP] I have managed to pay my children's fees in time .”
- Male , 39 years old , Uganda
01: Profile
This section profiles the clients interviewed, comparing caregiver and non -caregiver households across gender, age, loan methodology, loan amount, and location.
Client Profile
This section presents results from 23,764 microfinance clients who were interviewed between January and September of 2025. Caregiver and non -caregiver households differ across demographic dimensions beyond the presence of children - including age, location, and loan size - and this should be kept in mind when interpreting comparisons between the two groups. All data is aggregated from the 2025 MFI Index, drawn from samples representative of each participating FSP's client population. For more detail, see the Methodology section.
Children in Household*
Gender
*Throughout the report, we refer to Caregivers as those who report having children in their household, and Non -caregivers as those who report not having children in their household.
Loan Amount (USD)
- $2,000
- $3,000
$3,000
02: Insights
In this section, we present the main findings. Through four key insights, we explore how the presence of children shapes microfinance outcomes - from business usage and financial management, to household resilience and emergency preparedness, to the specific ways financial access translates into child well -being gains across regions, and how gender and location influence caregiver outcomes.
Caregivers are turning business loans into stronger financial capabilities.
When asked about loan usage, caregivers report using their loans for business purposes at higher rates - 84% compared to 73% of clients without children. This translates into results: business income increased significantly for 30% of households with children, compared to 22% of those without. This financial breathing room extends beyond income. Families with children report less financial stress - 27% experience significant decreases in time spent worrying about finances versus 22% of those without children.
Interestingly, caregivers are less likely to name business investment as their main financial goal (30% vs. 53% of non -caregivers). This difference points to caregivers being more likely to include and prioritize household -related expenses among their financial goals - 18% cite household expenses, compared to 11% of non -caregivers. A further 15% of caregivers cite children's education as a primary financial goal.
Changes in Business Income and Financial Stress
**Caregivers = 19,391 | Non-caregivers = 4,373
Perhaps most notably, caregivers are nearly twice as likely to report significant improvements in their ability to manage finances overall (37% vs. 21%). Among those experiencing these improvements, the gains are concrete: 58% are better able to pay expenses on time (vs. 51% of non -caregivers), 55% can budget more effectively (vs. 47% of noncaregivers), and 53% report being better able to save portions of their income (vs. 44% of noncaregivers).
The pattern suggests that family responsibilities may shape microfinance usage. Caregivers appear to leverage loans more deliberately for income generation, pointing to a connection between household responsibilities and how credit access translates into longer -term support.
Improvements in Ability to Manage their Finances ***
Beyond
financial resilience, caregivers report stronger quality of life and household outcomes than non - caregivers.
Beyond business growth and income, microfinance builds something more fundamental for families: financial resilience. Both caregivers and non -caregivers face similar vulnerability to unexpected expenses - roughly one -quarter would find it difficult to access emergency funds - but families with children show stronger improvements in this preparedness due to their engagement with Financial Service Providers. The role of FSPs in building this capacity is particularly pronounced: over two -thirds of caregivers (72%) credit their loans with improving their ability to prepare for financial shocks, versus 61% of households without children. Caregivers also report higher rates of significant increases in savings (20% vs. 13%).
This capacity -building extends to everyday life: 36% of households with children report significant quality of life improvements versus 31% of those without. When openly asked about the main driver of these improvements, both groups report similar reasons: income increase, ability to afford business assets, ability to afford household expenses and bills, and overall business growth.
However, when asked specifically about effects of the loans on household -related aspects, caregivers show particularly strong outcomes in home improvements (27% report major improvements vs. 20%), meal quality (20% vs. 13%), and healthcare access (19% vs. 13%).
For families, where the stakes of financial disruption run highest, microfinance appears to function as infrastructure for stability - not just liquidity or profit, but a potential source of breathing room when financial shocks arise.
For FSPs, the message is clear: families with children are not just borrowing - they are building. Caregivers consistently report converting financial access into savings, emergency preparedness, and stronger household outcomes (quality of life, home renovations, meal quality, and healthcare access) at higher rates than non -caregivers. This suggests that family -oriented clients may represent a distinct segment where loan products paired with savings tools or financial education could amplify already strong resilience -building behaviors
Improvements in Household Outcomes
FSPs Contribution to Financial Resilience
Financial access translates into child well - being gains, though regional priorities and child labor outcomes diverge .
75% of caregivers report an increase in their children's well -being as a result of the loans, with 33% reporting a significant increase. When asked to describe the single most significant change in their children's lives, three themes dominate: education (cited by 33% of respondents), improved housing and living conditions (16%), and the ability to meet basic needs (16%). These are followed by improvements in nutrition (14%) and emotional wellbeing (13%), pointing to the ways economic access may ripple outward into children's broader development
Geography shapes these impacts in revealing ways. Caregivers in Africa (38%) and Latin America (35%) report similar rates of significant improvements in children's well -being, while Asia lags notably behind at 22%.
In Africa, education dominates as the most significant change, cited by 62% of caregivers as the top improvement in their children's lives, suggesting a possible link between financial services and school outcomes. In Asia, education also leads (56%), but basic needs (38%) and better nutrition (28%) feature more prominently than in other regions, reflecting a broader focus on household resilience. In Latin America, where housing loans are more prevalent, clients cite better housing quality most frequently (43%), followed by the ability to meet basic needs (21%) and emotional well -being (20%).
When asked specifically about changes in living conditions, 77% of caregivers in Africa and 71% in Latin America report improvements, compared to just 52% in Asia.
Most Significant Changes for Children by Region *
(% of caregivers citing each change)**
*Questions are part of the Child -Lens Investing Module and were applied only to a subset of clients, all of them caregivers.
** Based on an open -ended question: What is the most significant change you have noticed in the lives of child(ren) in your household because of the FSP? ' Responses were coded by 60 Decibels researchers into thematic categories. Percentages reflect the share of caregivers citing each theme
Improvements in Children’s Well -being by Region*
A critical divergence emerges in child labor. In Africa, 25% of households report children's involvement in hazardous work, compared to 11% in Latin America and 3% in Asia. This 22 percentage point gap between Asia and Africa suggests that while financial services may support child wellbeing investments, broader systemic challenges around child protection persist in some regions, and require solutions beyond credit alone.
When asked about the influence of the loan on this topic, most caregivers report ‘no change’ (74%), and only 16% report a decrease.
The persistence of child labor in some regionseven where caregivers report improvements in education and well -being - signals that credit alone is not sufficient.
The fact that education is the most frequently cited improvement in Africa, yet one in four households still report children in hazardous work, points to a gap between financial gains and child protection outcomes that financial services alone cannot close.
In these markets, FSPs may need to look beyond their core product, partnering with child protection organizations or integrating safeguarding awareness into client engagement - ensuring that the economic progress their clients achieve translates more fully into safer conditions for children.
Proportion of Children in Hazardous Work by Region * **
Changes in Children’s Involvement in Hazardous Work by Region* ***
*Questions are part of the Child -Lens Investing Module and were applied only to a subset of clients, all of them caregivers.
** Binary responses derived from the question: 'Have there been any changes in the work your child(ren) are doing that may interfere with their well-being, education, or safety? ' Caregivers who reported 'increased' 'decreased' or 'no change' are classified as 'Yes’, indicating their child participates in hazardous work. Note that 'no change' reflects no shift in that involvement, not its absence. Those who selected 'not applicable' are classified as 'No’.
*** Sample sizes for this question vary significantly across regions and are small relative to the broader survey sample. Results are included for indicative purposes given the significance of child labor as a topic, and should be interpreted accordingly.
Female caregivers report stronger business income, savings, and quality of life outcomes, while rural households lead in child well - being and school attendance.
Caregivers report stronger outcomes than noncaregivers - but these gains are not distributed evenly. Breaking down results by gender and location reveals important differences in how loans impact children and their households.
When it comes to gender, women caregivers show overall better performance than men, though differences narrow for significant changes (those reporting outcomes have ‘very much’ improved or ‘increased’). For quality of life, 90% of women report overall improvements compared to 82% of male caregivers. A similar pattern emerges for business income (89% vs. 80%), savings (72% vs. 63%), and financial resilience (75% vs. 66%).
Location tells a similar story. Rural households consistently report stronger improvements across nearly all indicators: child well -being (76% vs. 72% urban), school attendance (53% vs. 41%), and healthcare access (55% vs. 45%). The school attendance gap is particularly striking: rural caregivers are 12 percentage points more likely to report improvements, and 10 percentage points more for healthcare access.
Caregivers’ Business and Household Outcomes
This suggests financial inclusion helps rural families overcome distance, transportation, and opportunity cost barriers that traditionally exclude children from education or healthcare. Financial access may serve as a key equalizer, helping rural families bridge infrastructure and service gaps that disproportionately affect their children's development prospects
These patterns raise important design questions. If women consistently achieve stronger outcomes, understanding the mechanisms behind this - whether through spending patterns, household decisionmaking, or engagement with additional servicescould help FSPs replicate these dynamics more broadly. Similarly, the rural advantage suggests that where financial access is most scarce, its impact on children runs deepest. For FSPs expanding into urban markets, the challenge is clear: replicating the transformative effects on child well -being seen in rural areas may require more than the same product in a different setting.
Questions are part of the Child -Lens Investing Module and were applied only to a subset of
all of them caregivers.
Ap pendix
Methodology
About the 60 Decibels Methodology
This study is based on 23,764 microfinance clients from 85 Financial Service Providers across 39 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia who participated in the 2025 MFI Index.
Clients were interviewed by phone through 60 Decibels -trained local researchers to ensure accuracy and cultural relevance.
To strengthen the methodology, FSPs provided specific data alongside client contact details, including gender, lending methodology, most recent loan amount, year of first loan, and PAR30. This helped ensure the contacts provided were representative of their respective client populations.
On average, each FSP provided 2,000 randomized client contacts, from which a further random sample was selected for interviews. This approach strengthened the representativeness of the Index sample and captured experiences across a diverse range of clients, including those who had recently missed payments.
Regional figures aggregate results across all countries within each region. No additional weighting or adjustment is applied to account for country -level variation. Differences across geographies are surfaced at the regional level throughout the analysis.
About the Child -Lens Investing Module
The Child -Lens Investing module was developed through a collaboration between 60 Decibels and UNICEF USA, with advisory from UNICEF's Innovative Finance team, Global Partnerships and VisionFund . The module is aligned with UNICEF's Child -Lens Investing Framework and inspired by UNICEF's strategic priorities to meet the needs of vulnerable children worldwide.
To inform the module design, 60 Decibels audited its existing database - analyzing over 265,000 individual responses from 1,342 projects globally across sectors such as energy, agriculture, and financial services - to identify recurring themes in how household members describe improvements in children's quality of life. Of these responses, over
This report aggregates findings from all 85 independent studies, each conducted with a 90% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. Given the expanded sample, the aggregate findings carry a 90 % confidence level and a margin of error of 2%.
Throughout the report, we highlight differences between segments only when they are statistically significant, even when the absolute differences may appear small.
Countries*
39 countries across Latin America (25%), Africa (45%) and Asia (30%)
Dates January – September 2025
*Latin America: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru
Africa: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
Asia: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan
58,000 specifically mentioned child -related outcomes, with the most frequently cited themes including enhanced learning and living spaces, improved nutrition, access to reliable power, and cost savings redirected toward children's needs.
These findings were then aligned with UNICEF’s priority areas - including health systems, adequate nutrition, education, child protection, water and sanitation, and poverty - to shape a set of survey questions that capture how clients perceive the impact of financial services on their children's wellbeing across diverse sectors and geographies.
Dimensions & Metrics
Access
Measures the degree to which the FSPs are serving a previously underserved population, the competitive landscape the FSPs operate in, and the degree to which they are serving less well -off clients.
Business Impact
Measures the impact the FSPs have on clients’ ability to earn income from their business and their ability to employ others.
Household Impact
Measures the impact the FSPs have on clients’ quality of life and their ability to invest or cover household expenditures.
Client Protection
Measures the degree to which clients are fully informed of the FSP’s loan conditions prior to borrowing, and the ability of clients to make repayments without reducing other household consumption.
Indicators
Clients who say
• that they are accessing a loan for the first time
• they could not easily find a good alternative
Indicators
Clients who say
• their income has ‘very much increased’
• their business operations ‘very much increased’
Indicators
Clients who say
• their lives have ‘very much improved’
• the number and quality of meals has ‘very much increased’
• the amount they spend on children’s education has ‘very much increased’
• their ability to visit healthcare providers has ‘very much increased’
• the amount they spend on home improvements has ‘very much increased’
Indicators
Clients who say
• they ‘strongly agree’ to understanding their fees, interest rates, and penalties
• they have never experienced an unexpected charge or fee
• time worrying about finances has ‘very much decreased’
• their loan repayments are ‘not a problem’
• they never reduced their household’s food consumption in order to make repayments
• they ‘strongly agree’ agents always treat them fairly and respectfully
• they know how to and would report harassment
Resilience
Measures the degree to which clients are financially prepared for an unforeseen economic shock, and the impact the FSPs have on this preparedness. It also measures the client’s ability to manage finances and save.
Agency
Measures the impact the FSPs have on clients’ confidence, ability to make decisions about their money, and contributions to clients’ ability to achieve their financial goals.
Child -Lens Investment Module
This module measures the impact of financial services on children in borrower householdscovering education, health, nutrition, housing, and child protection outcomes.
Indicators
Clients who say
• their ability to manage their finances has ‘very much improved’
• their savings have ‘very much increased’
• their ability to face an emergency expense has ‘very much improved’ because of the FSP
Indicators
Clients who say
• their confidence has ‘very much increased’.
• their ability to make decisions about money has ‘very much increased’.
• their ability to achieve a financial goal has ‘very much improved’
Indicators
Caregivers who say
• their children’s well -being has ‘very much improved’.
• their children’s school attendance ‘very much increased’
• their children’s physical living conditions ‘very much improved’
• their children’s involvement in hazardous work ‘decreased’
About 60 Decibels
60 Decibels is a global, tech -enabled social impact measurement company that brings speed and repeatability to impact measurement and customer insights. We provide genuine benchmarks of impact performance, enabling organisations to understand impact relative to peers and set performance targets. We have a network of 1,400+ researchers in 80+ countries, and have worked with more than 1,000 of the world’s leading impact investors, companies, foundations, corporations, NGOs, and public sector organisations. 60 Decibels makes it easy to listen to the people who matter most.
Written by: Daniel Field
Monica Restrepo Franco
For queries, please email:
daniel@60decibels.com
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