Finnish children go to day care at an earlier age than before

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In response to the country’s solid economic outlook, Finnish mothers and fathers on parental leave are frequently persuaded by their employers to return to work sooner and sooner. The phenomenon can be seen in the growing numbers of groups for the youngest children at day care centres in the Greater Helsinki area.
      In Vantaa, the most enthusiastic families apply for day care for infants as young as six to seven months old.
      At the same time, municipalities are expected to arrange day care for an increasing number of small children. In the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa, the proportion of under-three-year-old children in day care has been growing steadily.
     
The greatest change has occurred in the City of Vantaa, where some 34 per cent of all under-three-year-olds were put in municipal day care five years ago, while today approximately 41 per cent of all Vantaa children in this age category go to day care.
      In Helsinki the corresponding figure is some 38 per cent and in Espoo about 44 per cent.
     
The average age of those children who are queuing for day care has also come down. For example in Espoo, some 600 children are queuing for day care from the beginning of next year, with some 73 per cent of them being under the age of three.
      "While annual changes are not great, the long-range trend calls for additional staff and is bound to increase costs", says Jarmo Lounassalo of the Vantaa Health and Social Welfare Department.
      "Quantitatively it means hundreds of children", adds Titta Tossavainen, the head of Espoo day care services.
     
The officials in charge of day care services have a clear interpretation of the increasing proportion of the youngest children in day care.
      "Today, money is tight for young families, with expensive homes and large loans. At the same time, both parents may wish to build a career. If the employer then calls, enticing a parent to return to work, he or she does not have to think very long", Tossavainen notes.
      The opinion is shared by Vantaa’s Jarmo Lounassalo as well as by Satu Järvenkallas, Helsinki’s Director of Child Day Care.
      Besides, parents have the right to choose. Finnish families have a subjective right to day care after the child care leave ends, meaning that parents can decide whether or not to put their children into day care. Moreover, the state also supports parents who keep their small children at home.
     
However, the number of children under the age of twelve months in day care is still rather low. Most families try to postpone the beginning of their children’s day care attendance by a number of arrangements, including annual holidays.
      In Helsinki, the number of children attending day care before the age of twelve months is now 80, while the corresponding figure for both Espoo and Vantaa is about 50. The numbers have not been increasing recently.
     
Apparently the fact that the municipalities in the Greater Helsinki area and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland both grant parents financial help in the form of child home care allowances does not have a great impact on the situation.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Half of Finnish pre-school children go to day care (19.4.2005)
  FACTFILE: Municipal day care predominates in Finland (19.4.2005)

Links:
  The Social Insurance Institution of Finland

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