$Unique_ID{COW03464} $Pretitle{441} $Title{Sweden Child Care in Sweden} $Subtitle{} $Author{Swedish Institute} $Affiliation{Swedish Embassy, Washington DC} $Subject{care child children pre-school parents day work centres family time} $Date{1990} $Log{Table 1.*0346401.tab Table 2.*0346402.tab Table 3.*0346403.tab Table 4.*0346404.tab Table 5.*0346405.tab } Country: Sweden Book: Fact Sheets on Sweden Author: Swedish Institute Affiliation: Swedish Embassy, Washington DC Date: 1990 Child Care in Sweden A family policy which protects the child and its rights is regarded as very important in Sweden. With around 80% of all Swedish women with children under the age of seven gainfully employed, extensive measures from the community are necessary to ensure that children can enjoy security and support in their upbringing. Among the aims and measures of the family policy pursued in Sweden can be mentioned public child care for children between the ages of eighteen months and seven years and leisure time centres for younger schoolchildren aged 7-12. Other important provisions for families with children are free maternity and child health care, child allowances, and a system of parental insurance whereby the parents receive compensation for loss of income when they stay at home to look after babies and sick children. There is also legislation against corporal punishment in the home, in the pre-school and at school. In the event of a divorce, there is a law giving the child access to both parents. High demand for child care Swedish women have one of the highest employment rates in the western world-although it should be pointed out that an unusually large number work part-time. Some of the factors which contributed to this development are a heavy demand for labour in the 1960s, the expansion of the public care sector in the 1970s, and changes in family law. The latter included the separate taxation of spouses, an equality-promoting measure based on the principle that each individual should be financially independent. The consequence of these various developments is that in the majority of Swedish families both parents work outside the home or are studying. It is clear that these families have special needs. One is for a parental insurance system which enables parents to stay at home to care for babies and sick children without being financially disadvantaged. Another is high-quality care for young children when their parents are at work. To meet this need, a system of public child care has been developed in Sweden which aims to enable parents to combine parenthood with professional work or studies as well as to meet children's need for support and development. [See Table 1.: Population] Parental insurance The parental insurance system is based on the principle of compensation for loss of income for parents staying at home to look after a child. Most parents first come into contact with the parental insurance system in connection with the birth of a child. For children born after 1 October 1988, parents receive benefit for a period of 450 days. For the first 360 days, the amount received is approx. 90% of the parent's normal income. For the final 90 days, a standard amount of SEK 60 per day is paid. An extension of the benefit period is now being planned, as the result of a parliamentary decision. If this plan goes through, parents will be entitled to eighteen months' parental benefit in connection with the birth of a child, receiving 90% of normal income for the entire period. This benefit can be utilised in various ways. It can be used by one parent or shared between them. It can be used to stay at home full-time or it can be combined with part-time working, in which case, the parent receives a combination of salary from the employer and benefit from the insurance system. Payment of benefit may be deferred until the child's eighth birthday, at latest. The parental insurance system also provides compensation for loss of income when one of the parents stays at home to care for a sick child (max. 90 days annually per child up to the age of 12). Parents with children aged between 4 and 12 are also entitled to take two days off work per child and year, with compensation for loss of income, to take part in parental education or visit the child's pre-school, leisure time centre or school. One of the ideas behind parental insurance is that it should be shared between the mother and the father. However, it has proved difficult to encourage this in connection with the birth of a child. In by far the majority of cases it is the mother who takes most of the parental benefit. When it comes to caring for children when they are ill, however, fathers seem nowadays to take as much responsibility as mothers. Parents also receive a child allowance for children under the age of 16. Families with three or more children receive a supplementary allowance. These are universal benefits, independent of income. At present, the child allowance is SEK 5,820 per child per year. Responsibility for public child care The Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen) legislates in matters concerning the aims, expansion and financing of child care. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (Socialdepartementet) is responsible for the preparation of laws and proposals related to child care. The National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) and the county administrations are together responsible for supervising the pre-schools and other forms of child care nationwide. This involves, for example, disseminating information, providing guidance, helping to develop skills, following up the quality and contents of the work of the pre-schools, and the planned expansion of services. Main day-to-day responsibility for public child care is borne by the country's 284 municipalities. These supervise the expansion, running and development of day care centres, leisure time centres, part-time groups and family day care. Forms of child care Child care services in Sweden take a number of different forms. Pre-school (forskola) is the general term used to denote day care centres, part-time groups and open pre-schools. Day care centres (daghem) care for children aged 0-6 years whose parents are gainfully employed or studying, as well as those children who need extra support for their development. Day care centres are usually open between 6.30 in the morning and 18.00 in the evening, Monday to Friday, all year round. Today, grouping according to age is no longer the rule. Children are instead usually divided into mixed-age groups, since it is considered valuable for them to grow up together with children of other ages. There are infant groups for small children up to the age of three, sibling groups (usually 2.5 to 6 years), or extended sibling groups which can include children of all pre-school ages as well as younger schoolchildren. This mixed-age grouping means that the children do not have to change groups as often as they would do otherwise and it creates greater stability. The average day care centre will have four groups or sections, each with some 15-18 children. Each section will usually have three members of staff, two pre-school teachers (forskollarare) and one child care attendant (barnskotare) or one pre-school teacher and two attendants. [See Table 2.: The distribution of pre-school child care (16-21 January 1989)] Part-time groups (deltidsgrupper), which cater for children aged 4-6, follow the school year and usually comprise 20 children, one pre-school teacher and one child care attendant. These groups normally meet for three hours daily, morning or afternoon. The activities of the open pre-school (oppen forskola) are targeted at pre-school children without any other kind of pre-school place, who attend a few times a week in the company of a parent or family child minder. A pre-school teacher is employed to organise activities and to give parents and child minders help and advice. There is also municipal provision for older children with working parents. Leisure time centres (fritidshem) are for schoolchildren aged 7-12 and are open before and after school as well as during the school holidays. Two members of staff, often recreation instructors (fritidspedagoger) and child care attendants, usually work with groups of 15-20 children. Family day care (familjedaghem) is the system by which the municipality employs family child minders (dagbarnvardare) to care for children aged 0-12 years in the minder's own home. The National Board of Health and Welfare recommends that no more than four children, apart from the child minder's own, shall be registered with one family child minder. However, it is not uncommon for this recommendation to be exceeded. The Board has drawn up general guidelines for the work of family day care. The availability of public child care Public child care is regulated by the Social Services Act. This act requires the municipalities to study child care need and to draw up plans for how this need is to be met. During the 1970s and 1980s, the expansion of public child care was seen as the most important element of Sweden's family policy and was given priority. At present, municipalities are required to provide at least a place in a part-time group for every 6 year old in their area. In 1985, Parliament decided that public child care was to be expanded so that by 1991 all pre-school children over the age of eighteen months would be provided for. However, in spite of efforts to meet demand, the shortage of places is still acute. In January 1989, 48% of all children in the age group 4 months-6 years had a place in public child care-65% of these in day care centres and 35% in family day care. Just over 98% of all six year olds have a place in a part-time group or day care centre. Many children and their parents or child minders regularly visit the open pre-schools, of which there were 1,304 in 1989. 45% of all 7-9 year olds have a place in a leisure time centre or family day care. This figure drops to 7% for the older age group of 10-12 year olds. An increase in the birth rate, a greater demand for manpower and a predicted increase in the numbers of gainfully employed women means that the waiting list for pre-school places is rising rather than falling in some areas, in spite of the expansion programme. In child care, as in the care sector in general, there is a shortage of qualified staff which is being felt most acutely in urban areas. This, of course, jeopardises the whole expansion project. Among the reasons for so many people leaving employment in child care are low pay, low status, and lack of contact and trust between pre-school staff on the one side and the municipal administrators and politicians on the other. Financing public child care Public child care in Sweden is jointly financed by the state, the municipalities and parental fees. The distribution of costs between these three parties is shown in Table 2. The various types of subsidy for child care which the municipalities receive from the state are given in Table 3. The 1990 budget bill proposes that SEK 29,724 million be provided by the state for child care in the financial year 1990/91. [See Table 3.: Cost distribution of public child care. Average annual cost per child, in SEK and percent (1988)] Parental fees Parental fees are paid per child enrolled in the day care centre, leisure time centre or family day care. The open pre-school and the part-time groups for 6 year olds are free of charge. Different municipalities charge different fees. These are normally income-related and take into consideration the number of children in a family who are enrolled in child care. The number of municipalities with various forms of standard fees are relatively few, yet a transition to standard fees is being discussed in several municipalities. Other child care solutions With the demand for public child care still exceeding supply, families without child care places are obliged to resort to a variety of strategies for coping-dovetailing working hours so that one parent is always at home with the children, taking turns with neighbours, involving relations, or hiring private child minders. During recent years, interest in starting non-municipal day care centres and leisure time centres has also increased. In order to be eligible for state subsidies the non-municipal day care centre must be non-profit-making and must conform with one or more of the following criteria: - constitute a parent cooperative; - subscribe to some particular form of pedagogic theory, such as Montessori; - work along other, similar lines to those outlined above. It is likely that day care centres run as cooperatives by the staff may also soon be accepted as a form of day care eligible for state subsidies. Another precondition for receiving a state subsidy is that the day care centre or leisure time centre must be integrated into the municipality's general child care plan. This means that places in the alternative child care facilities are allocated, in the usual way, via the municipal child care waiting list. The financing of the non-municipal day care centres and leisure time centres varies from one municipality to another. Parental fees are often set according to the same scale used by the municipality. In parent cooperatives, (the most common form of non-municipal child care arrangement), parents help to run activities, thereby reducing the fees. [See Table 4.: State subsidies to public child care (from January 1990)] In 1989 there were around 600 non-municipal day care centres and leisure time centres in Sweden. Alternative child care is growing fast, yet it only provided care for around 1% of all pre-school children in Sweden. An alternative form of child care is the so-called Uppsala Model, according to which parents, working as family child minders, receive payment if they look after both their own and other people's children. This practice has been adopted by a small number of municipalities. The latter do not, however, get state subsidies for children looked after by their own parents. Pedagogic programmes for pre-schools and leisure time centres A pedagogic programme for the pre-school appeared in 1987. A programme with the same aims for leisure time centres followed in 1988. The aim behind a common programme for all the pre-schools and leisure time centres in the country is: - to achieve good, even quality; - to stimulate further development; - to facilitate planning, supervision, evaluation and development at both municipal level and in the pre-schools and leisure time centres themselves. The aims and responsibilities of the pre-school can be summarised as follows: - Its work shall be so planned that it pursues set, pedagogic targets. - Pre-school children shall receive good, secure and loving care and a sense of community. They shall be given specific support in developing their own personality and skills. They will be helped to increase an awareness of their own identity, and they will be fostered in democratic values. - The pre-school is designed for all children but has particular responsibility for those who need special help with their development. - The pre-school shall complement the home and the child's other social and cultural environments. It shall also enable parents to combine parenthood and family life with gainful employment or studies. Activities shall be planned in close cooperation with the parents. Content and methods Children learn by exploring, discovering and cultivating their own experiences. Everyday situations, children's games and adult work, as well as contacts with their immediate surroundings are utilised as natural situations for learning and development. The activities of the pre-schools should be based largely on the children's life situation, their interests, previous experiences and special needs. Together with the parents, one of the tasks of the pre-school is to integrate the child into society. This requires a good pedagogic plan. The work in pre-schools covers the following main areas: cultural activities such as language, drama, music and art, painting and pottery; nature orientation, and community life. These topics manifest themselves naturally through play, creative activities, daily tasks, etc. In order to help children see the context of their activities, work is often based on themes such as "how we live", "what we eat", "fear", the seasons, festivities, etc. There are daily outdoor activities throughout the year. Children go out into the countryside to learn about flowers, berries, mushrooms, trees and animals. Ice skating, cross-country skiing and swimming may also be included in the week's activities. The director or supervisor (forestandare) of the pre-school is responsible for the regular planning of the centre's work. The staff work in teams, where the particular knowledge and interests of each member of staff can be utilised. Parents should have the opportunity to influence planning and are thus encouraged to participate in activities whenever possible. Each year, plans for the work of the centre and for the in-service training of staff must be sent to the municipal administration. Staff and training Pre-schools are staffed by teachers and child care attendants, while recreation instructors and child care attendants work in leisure time centres. In the extended sibling groups, pre-school teachers, recreation instructors and child care attendants work together with both pre-school and school-children. The training for pre-school teachers and recreation instructors takes the form of university courses of two and a half years' duration. The courses are reduced by six months if the student is already a trained child care attendant. The latter are trained on special two-year study lines in the upper secondary school. There are also special courses, such as those for bilingual persons wanting to work primarily with immigrant children. In family day care, most family child minders have taken an introductory course of 90-100 hours or a lengthier training, for example the child care attendant's course. Only 5% of all child care staff are men. The corresponding number among supervisors is 9%. Since responsibility for further training rests with the municipalities, the availability and content of such opportunities can vary enormously from one area to another. To emphasise the importance of further training, the government has included money for this purpose in the state subsidy system. [See Table 5.: Size and structure of children's groups at day care centres] Special support The aim of public child care is that it should be available to all children whose parents so wish. As long as there are insufficient places, however, children in need of special support for their development shall, in accordance with the Social Services Act, be given priority in the allocation of pre-school places. This is to facilitate the integration of these children into society and to help them live as normal a life as possible. A further intention is to give their families extra support. Into this category come children who are physically or mentally disabled, children who have a hearing or speech impairment, as well as those with social and psychological problems. Today, an increasing number of children in need of special support are being integrated into ordinary municipal day care instead of remaining in special groups. Integrating children with disabilities makes special demands. Additional staff may be needed or the size of the group may have to be reduced. In some cases it is judged to be better for the child to remain in his home surroundings. In such cases a parent may receive a care allowance to stay at home and look after the child. Children in hospital The Social Services Act also entitles children in hospital to play activities corresponding to those which would otherwise be available to them in pre-schools or leisure time centres. Pre-school teachers who work in hospitals have often completed a specialist training course. Immigrant children According to the Social Services Act, children needing support owing to differences in linguistic and/or cultural background are offered places in the municipal child care system on a priority basis. All children who speak a language other than Swedish at home, including children from Swedish minority groups who speak another language at home (for example children from Norrbotten, Sweden's northernmost county, who speak Sami or Finnish), are offered instruction in that language. The municipalities receive state subsidies for pre-school children receiving home-language support for at least four hours a week. (This is not the case for children who attend pre-school groups which work exclusively in the home language.) Home-language support is given in some 60 languages. Participation is voluntary. Research and development Child care has for some time been a priority research area. Since 1984, the annual state subsidy to child care has included money for local development and renewal work. The sum allocated for this purpose is SEK 19.5 million for the financial year 1989/90. Around 600 projects in just over 200 municipalities have been granted research money over the past five years. Examples of common projects are those concerning developments in the internal work of the pre-school, for example how to help new children to settle in, cooperation with parents, how to stimulate language and motor skills. Other areas to be given priority have been cooperation between pre-school and school, cooperation between the leisure time centre and school, child care at night and during un-social working hours, and the development of new forms of care for schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 12. The National Board of Health and Welfare has developed a computerised data base holding details of current research and development projects in the field of child care.