Research project Diversity of Childcare Policies in Nordic Welfare States

The three countries show quite different development trajectories over time. In all three countries, but especially Finland and Sweden women entered the labor market earlier than PFC services developed and childcare was initially often arranged privately. Informal family day care was eventually replaced by formal family day carers employed by the municipality. This happened less in Norway where women entered the labor market later. Preschool activity then expanded over time, first in Sweden and somewhat later in Finland and Norway. Over time the preschools become the dominant form of childcare, but the prevalence of cash for care differentiates the situation in the three countries, today especially regarding children’s age at start of PFC. Today Finland is the country where cash for care is still widely used and children start later in preschools. The chapter also describes the cost and subsidized fees of PFC, when various parental groups got access to PFC and quality indicators in the three countries. We conclude on the development that the motivation to expand PFC to facilitate women’s work has today been replaced by a motive of children’s needs, and where informal carers has largely been replaced by educated preschool teachers.

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