Increase in number of children in day care surprised Espoo decision-makers

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The number of children requiring day care services in Espoo has increased by 900 this year, which has come as a considerable surprise to Titta Tossavainen, who is in charge of children’s day care services at the City of Espoo Social and Health Department.
     
”The increase is so abrupt that no planning could meet such a sharp spike in demand”, notes Tossavainen, although some warning signs were there at the beginning of last year.
      In comparison, last year the increase in the number of children attending day care was 500. The current number of all Espoo children in day care is around 13,000.
      Espoo will have a total of 71% of children under the age of seven in day care by the end of the current year. Two years ago, the figure was 65%.
      Espoo is an exceptional case, for in other parts of the country, only about half of this age group goes to day care.
     
”The only explanation I can come up with is that educated people want to make a career”, Tossavainen notes.
      ”Previously day care plans were made on the basis of the population growth, but today it is the behaviour of families that has changed. I do not know how we could prepare for that”, Tossavainen contemplates.
      Some parents say that it is good for their child to have new playmates. Some say that living in Espoo is expensive, and it would be difficult to support a family on one salary alone.
     
Espoo residents are clearly more highly educated than are Finns on average. More than 40 % of Espoo adults have a university degree, while only an average of 25% of Finns in other parts of the country have an equivalent degree.
      Furthermore, a total of 79% of Espoo adults have either a university degree or an upper secondary level education, while the corresponding figure elsewhere in the country is 56%.
     
This year’s budget for day-care services has already been overrun in Espoo, while several new day care groups have been founded in the city. However, it is not easy to find competent employees to fill the new vacancies.


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

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