Symplifica (Acumen Latam Impact Ventures)
About
Acumen Latam Impact Ventures (ALIVE) implement a gender lens throughout their investment practices, from origination to post-investment management. One of their portfolio companies, Symplifica, created an online job formalisation platform which has an outsized impact on women in the care economy. Symplifica facilitates the creation, signing, and contract management between a domestic worker and their employer, including registration of the domestic worker in social security programs. Through the platform, Symplifica has formalised more than 11,000 domestic workers throughout Colombia, +95% of which are women from low-income communities.
To dive deeper into Symplifica’s impact, ALIVE spoke with over 200 domestic workers using the platform. Here’s what they learned from those conversations.
Type of actor
Investee company
Operates in
Colombia, Latin America
Sectors
Technology
A solution for domestic workers and their employers
In Latin America, there are about 20 million domestic workers, with nearly 1 million working in Colombia. Almost all of them are women.
They perform a variety of tasks including cleaning the house, cooking, washing clothes, childcare, taking care of the elderly, and more. Even though they are key members of the care economy, providing essential services to households across the region, about 8 out of 10 work informally and lack basic workers’ rights. Symplifica is working to change that.
To formalize domestic worker employment in the region, Symplifica created an online platform which facilitates the creation, signing, and contract management between a domestic worker and their employer, including social security registration.
This protects both employers and employees alike. Employers avoid legal risks of having an informal worker while employees gain access to formal work benefits. These employee benefits include medical insurance, pension, severance, worker’s compensation and maternity leave.
“I am receiving benefits that I did not have before, before they were not offered to me, and I didn’t even expect it. Now, I have a steady job and peace of mind, and social security too.”
Symplifica furthers their value-add by facilitating women’s access to financial education, mental and physical health advising, and self-confidence and entrepreneurship curriculum. Since the date of ALIVE’s investment, they have formalized over 11,000 domestic workers across Colombia.
Impact
To better understand how these products and services are impacting employers and domestic workers, ALIVE designed an impact measurement study with their partner, 60 Decibels. Both employers and domestic workers were surveyed, but this article focuses on the impact on domestic workers.
Of a random set of 2,000 domestic workers registered on Symplifica’s platform, they surveyed a representative sample of 202.
Survey results
99% female
90% perceive the benefits provided by Symplifica as important
65% say their quality of life has improved
61% report improved labour rights knowledge
93% report being confident in being able to exercise their workers’ rights if need be
Socioeconomic profile
59% are from low-income communities (on average earning less than USD11/day)
71% have a high school education or less
47% had never accessed formal job benefits before
Unique findings
56% are single mothers
74% are gaining access to maternity leave for the first time
Key takeaways
These results show that Symplifica is reaching a population of beneficiaries that were previously underserved, and that they are providing an essential service.
One particular result worth highlighting is the fact that 9 out of 10 of these women feel they can exercise their workers’ rights. This signals that Symplifica is more than a worker formalization platform, but a transformative solution that moves women from being marginalized to empowered citizens. This is especially significant given that half of the women did not have access to worker rights before.
More than half of Symplifica’s domestic workers are also single mothers. Providing access to maternity leave (which 3 out of 4 experienced for the first time) has an outsized positive impact on women and positive short-term and long-term impacts for their children as well.
What’s next?
The lack of formality in the care economy for women domestic workers is not isolated to Colombia. Across Latin America there is a substantial need to formalize employment for the millions of women who work in this sector. This study validates formalization as a path to creating a profound positive impact for domestic workers.
Symplifica is leveraging both data and experience to facilitate entry into new markets across Latin America, while also continuing to strengthen its current offering, improving the lives of women across Colombia.
Moving forward, at ALIVE, we will continue to work closely with Symplifica, helping the company both improve their service and scale their operations.
Because Symplifica’s impact is embedded in its business model, as the company scales, so does its impact. To continue assessing the depth of that impact, ALIVE will conduct two more impact measurement studies with a gender lens over the years as Symplifica reaches more and more domestic workers across Latin America.