COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(91) 233 final 
Brussels, 28 August 1991 
sW 
WM^' Proposal for a 
COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 
on chiId care 
(presented by the Commission) 
Jii^lSSfeK 
- 2 -
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 
A. BACKGROUND 
1. In 1989, eleven Member States of the European Community adopted the 
Community Charter of basic social rights of workers with certain 
undertakings regarding the development of equal opportunities for men 
and women (Paragraph 16) and the reconciliation of occupational and 
famiIy obiigat ions. 
2. In its action programme implementing the Community Charter, the 
Commission has included among its aims the adoption of a 
Recommendation concerning child care. 
3. Studies have shown inadequacies and gaps in all the Member States and 
that measures are required to reconcile family responsibilities 
arising from the care and upbringing of children with the employment, 
education and training of parents and other adults with family 
responsibilities for children; and the adverse effects of this 
situation on the attainment of equal opportunities for men and women 
in employment, training and education and the well-being of their 
families<1M2)(3). 
4. The Commission Action Programme implementing the Community Charter of 
basic social rights for workers notes that, as early as 1982, the 
First Action Programme on Equality highlighted the link between 
employment and childcare. The Second Community Action Programme on 
the Promotion of Equal Opportunities for Women (1985-1990) noted 
that: MA sine qua non for the promotion of true equality at work is 
the sharing of family and occupational responsibilities, particularly 
the development of adequate child-minding facilities and a review of 
social infrastructures in general". 
5. The Third Medium-Term Community Action Programme on Equal 
Opportunities for Women and Men (1991-1995), in the context of 
improving the working conditions and the reconciliation between work 
and family responsibilities for men and women, envisages the 
Commission undertaking measures concerning the development of child 
care facilities and leave for family reasons. 
(1) "Childcare and Equality of Opportunity". Consolidated Report to the 
European Commission, Peter Moss, Co-ordinator, Childcare Network, 
based on national reports of Network representatives in the Twelve 
Member States, April 1988. 
(2) "Infrastructure and Women's Employment : Centre for Research on 
European Women (CREW) and James McLoone and Maire 0'Leary, 
University College, Galway, V/174/90-EN, October 1989. 
(3) "Who Cares for Europe's Children ?". by A. PHI I lips and P. MOSS, 
Brussels, European Commission, 1989. 
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6. The communication from the Commission on Family Policies of 8 August 
1989(4) mentions the need to continue actions to reconcile 
professional and family life and to encourage the sharing of family 
responsibilities and attaches particular importance to the 
intensification of current work relating to the "Childcare Network". 
It also draws attention in this context to the need for job 
flexibility, the development of atypical working timetables and Job 
status, and the provision of adequate basic infrastructures (working 
hours of public and private services, transport). 
7. In the present economic context, there is a clear need for closer 
approximation in levels of support for employed parents, including 
services providing care for children, in order to eliminate 
imbalances in the labour market and facilitate mobility between 
Member States. The Single Market will produce new Jobs and women 
will be able to take advantage of these, if support measures, 
including services providing care for children are available and 
affordable. These support services are also essential, if women are 
to undertake training and retraining which is crucial during periods 
of labour market restructuring. Finally, these support services are 
equally essential, if the Community is to make the optimum use of 
women's skills, talents and abilities. It is thus economically and 
socially desirable to improve the quantity and quality of services 
providing care for children and other measures intended to reconcile 
responsibilities arising from the care and upbringing of children 
with the employment, education and training of parents. 
B. SITUATION IN THE MEMBER STATES 
The Employment Position of Women and Men with Children 
1. Annex 1 provides an overview of some aspects of the employment 
position of women and men with children. This Annex shows the 
continuing differential impact of children and their care on 
participation by men and women in the labour market; 44% of women 
with children aged 0-9 were employed in 1988, less than half the 
level for men with children (92%) and substantially lower than the 
employment rate for childless women of childbearing age (71%). Women 
with children were more likely to be employed part-time, compared to 
men with children or childless women. 
2. There is little data on the qualitative aspects of parents' 
employment (for example, type of occupation, pay and conditions, 
prospects, etc.), which would permit an assessment of the impact of 
children and their care on these aspects of the employment position 
of men and women. 
Gaps in Service Provision 
3. Annex 2 shows the number of places in pub 11cIy-funded serv i ces for 
children up to the age of 10, as a percentage of the child 
population; it excludes children attending primary school, which is 
compulsory in all the Member States, but shows the hours that 
children attend primary schools, and therefore the contribution 
that these schools make to children's care. Although information on 
the private sector is more sketchy, there are indications of 
substantial unmet need for services throughout the Community, even in 
the country with the highest level of provision. 
(4) COM (89) 363 final. 
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4. !n addition to levels of provision varying substantially between 
Member States, differences also exist within individual Member 
States, so that there are disparities between regions regarding 
access to services. In general, cities tend to be better served than 
rural areas regarding public provision. 
Ages of Children covered by existing services 
5. There is a high level of unmet need for children under three, with 
places for 5% or less of children under three in services in eight 
Member States. Places in publicly-funded pro-primary schooling or 
kindergartens for children over the age of three, but below 
compulsory school age, are more common. Four countries provide such 
provision for over 80% of children-, six for 50%-80%; and two for 
under 50%. In many countries, however, the hours of opening of these 
services, like primary schools are such that they need to be 
supplemented by services providing "outside school hours" care. 
There is, however, also a high level of unmet need for services 
providing this type of care with very low levels of provision in many 
countries*5^ (see Annex 1, last column). 
6. Public funding may be supplemented by other sources of funding, for 
example from parents and employers. At present the extent of public 
funding varies widely, not only between Member States, but also for 
different age groups of children within Member States. Except in one 
Member State, most parents with children under 3 must rely on 
privately funded services; parents with children under 3 using 
publicly funded services, and parents with older children at 
kindergarten, have to pay according to income, although levels of 
payment vary between Member States; parents with children in pre-
primary or primary school make no payment although they may have to 
pay for "outside school hours" care. In five countries, there is 
some degree of tax relief to parents for costs incurred in using 
services, but this subsidy is much less than that given to parents 
using publicly-funded services and is not income-related so as to 
give more assistance to lower income families. 
7. Moreover, research suggests that a barrier to increased labour force 
participation rates, and more particularly employment rates, among 
women is the presence or absence of suitable childcare arrangements 
for children from 0 to 10 and not merely creches for babies. Care 
for children of school age fails to be provided for more than a third 
of children in any country and is virtually non-existent or very low 
in nine Member States. While variations can partly be explained by 
different levels of need and national income, this is only a partial 
explanation for the unequal access to services that exists. 
(5) "Childcare in the European Communities. 1985-1990". Published in 
"Women in Europe", August, 1990. Peter Moss, Co-ordinator, Childcare 
Network. 
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8. Major gaps in information make it impossible to provide comprehensive 
and comparative data on the position in Member States, not only as 
regards services providing care for children, but also leave 
arrangements for employed parents with responsibility for the care 
and upbringing of children, the environment, structure and 
organisation of the workplace and the sharing of family 
responsibilities which are component parts of a broad approach to 
child care (see section C below). 
9. Information on privately funded childcare services is generally 
inadequate, if available at all. Many women, however, seek private 
solutions. Surveys show that relatives provide childcare for most 
children under 3 in all Member States but one and private or 
workplace nurseries provide less than 2% of care for the under-threes 
in a 11 countries. 
Leave Arrangements for employed parents with responsibility for the care 
and upbringing of children 
10. Annex 3 provides an overview of Parental Leave. Main points about 
this provision are that parental leave is offered in 8 countries, one 
offers a more general leave which can be used for child care 
purposes; there is no provision in three countries. Periods of leave 
vary from 10 weeks to nearly 3 years. Except for Denmark, parents 
taking leave receive either no payment or else a payment that is low 
in relation to normal earnings; leave is also inflexible in terms of 
the degree of choice available to parents in how they may take leave 
(for example, parents may not choose between taking leave on a full-
time or part-time basis, or between taking it in one bloc of time or 
several). Leave is taken overwhelmingly by mothers. 
11. In addition to this form of leave, six countries provide some 
statutory leave to care for sick children, but this is only paid in 
three cases. Only Denmark provides statutory Paternity Leave. 
Environment, structure and organisation of the workplace 
12. As regards initiatives to reconcile working and family life in the 
context of the environment, structure and organization of the 
workplace, national studies in a few Member States suggest that 
developments have, so far, been limited and uneven in application 
<6) (7) (8). 
Sharing of Family Responsibilities 
13. A major change that has taken place in employment in the past 
20 years is the growing proportion of women (especially married 
(6) "The Industrial Relations Review and Report". UK, May-June, 1989. 
(7) "Retaining Women Employees". Hilary Metcalf, Institute of Manpower 
Studies Report, UK, 1990. 
(8) "Maternity Rights: the Experience of Women and Employers". S. McRae, 
W.W. Daniel, Policy Studies Institute, UK, 1991. 
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women) in the labour force. However, women's increased participation 
in the world of work has not been accompanied by the measures 
necessary to achieve a matching reduction in women's share of family 
responsibilities, and to facilitate the reconciliation of employment 
and family responsibilities for both men and women. Many women are 
still forced into making undesirable choices between a career at 
work, carrying the double burden of also being mainly responsible for 
the family or a career at home, and in the main expected to make 
arrangements for caring for children and relatives and giving up 
their leisure time and even part or all of their work, if the need 
arises. 
C. THE BROAD APPROACH TO CHILD CARE 
1. An essential component of child care services is the need for 
quality. Quality in child care must mean that which is conducive to 
the welfare and development of the child. It is important to break 
down the false distinction between care and education, so that there 
is no stigmatisation of "care", in so much as it is seen as a 
"parking service" for parents at work. Services should be flexible, 
local, and multi-functional. Good quality child care is an 
inseparable issue from that of the people who work to provide those 
services. Moreover, services of poor quality will constrain women's 
employment, deterring some from entering the labour market and 
providing an additional source of stress for women already employed. 
2. Reconciling family responsibilities arising from the care and 
upbringing of children with employment, education and training 
requires measures in four areas : high quality services to provide 
care for children while parents with family responsibilities for 
children are employed or receiving education or training; leave 
arrangements for parents with responsibility for the care and 
upbringing of children; changes in the culture and structure of 
individual workplaces, to make workplaces supportive of the needs of 
workers with responsibilities for the care and upbringing of 
children; the more equal sharing of family responsibilities arising 
from the care and upbringing of children, particularly between men 
and women. Each area is necessary, but not sufficient. A 
comprehensive and coherent programme, covering all these areas, is 
needed. 
D. SERVICES TO PROVIDE CARE FOR CHILDREN 
1. There is a range of services which may be provided in institutions 
such as nurseries, kindergartens, pre-primary or primary schools, 
centres providing out-of-school care; or by childminders in organised 
childcaring schemes. 
2. The main points about such child care services are: 
(i) There are major and unjustifiable inconsistencies, or lack of 
coherence, between services in a number of important areas, 
including accessibility; funding and costs to parents; 
availability of places; hours of opening*, orientation and 
purpose; administrative responsibility; training, pay and 
conditions of workers. 
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(ii) Services need to work closely with local communities and with 
parents. This includes : responsiveness to local and parental 
needs and circumstances; regular contact and exchanges of 
information; and creating opportunities for parents and local 
communities to influence the objectives and management of 
services. 
(ill) Although Annex 2 covers only services for children until the 
age of 10, it should be recalled that family responsibilities 
arising from the care of children are wide-ranging and continue 
to exist at least until children leave school, although the 
nature of these responsibilities change, as children get older 
and become less dependent. 
(iv) Nearly all workers in the relevant services, whether publicly 
or privately funded, are women. The conditions and training of 
workers in child care services should be improved to reflect 
the importance of their work. 
(v) While some parents use private arrangements from choice, many 
others do so for lack of publicly-funded services. Increased 
services at an affordable cost are therefore necessary to 
ensure that there is a closing of the gap between demand and 
the existing level of services. Given that the need for child 
care is not a matter concerning parents alone, but is of 
economic and social consequence, public funding should also 
make an important contribution to provision. 
(vi) Where public funding is supplemented by other sources of 
funding, for example from parents and employers, this should be 
part of a coherent and comprehensive policy on the funding of 
services. Where services are provided in workplaces or 
otherwise supported by individual employers, this should be 
regarded as a supplement to locally based, integrated services 
and not as an alternative and should be provided within the 
framework of a fully developed equal opportunities policy. 
E. LEAVE ARRANGEMENTS FOR EMPLOYED PARENTS WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE 
CARE AND UPBRINGING OF CHILDREN 
Working parents may not always be able or willing to leave the care 
of their children to professional or other chiIdminders. An 
intrinsic feature of child care is therefore the need for various 
forms of leave from work to enable parents to be absent from 
employment at key times and return without loss of Job, seniority or 
interruption of their contractual relationship*9). 
(9) "The impact of the Completion of the Internal Market on Women in the 
European Community". 
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F. THE ENVIRONMENT. STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION OF THE WORKPLACE 
1. The working environment, workplace practice and attitudes are also a 
crucial element in a broad approach to childcare. Arrangements in 
these areas may additionally permit continuity of working careers and 
contribute towards reducing the costs of staff turnover. 
2. There is therefore a need to increase understanding amongst employers 
and trade unions of the importance of improving the environment, 
structure and organisation of individual workplaces and of the means 
to do this. Measures are needed to review the situation in 
workplaces, to introduce appropriate initiatives and to monitor their 
effectiveness, to stimulate, evaluate and disseminate innovative 
measures of good employment practice. Examples of such practice 
include the hours at which meetings are held to avoid incompatibility 
with the need to collect children rom creches; the importance of 
giving adequate notice of the need to travel; the need for flexible 
working hours, etc. 
G. SHARING OF FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES 
Women carry too great a share of responsibilities and that is one of 
the fundamental causes of women's unequal position on the labour 
market and consequent inequalities in employment and income. Wage 
rates and occupation position - central criteria for assessing 
quality - are not determined purely by market forces, but by the 
social costs of reproduction which are unequally distributed. A 
greater involvement of men in family responsibilities seems crucial, 
if women are to enter the labour market on an equal footing and to 
improve the quality of their working and personal lives. As well as 
taking a fair share of family responsibilities, men should equally be 
able to benefit from the full range of measures to reconcile family 
and professional life without Jeopardising their own chances of 
career development or running the risk of hostile attitudes. Changes 
in male attitudes are needed both in the home and workplace to make 
the working environment more sympathetic and responsive to the needs 
of chiIdren. 
H. THE NEED FOR INFORMATION 
There is a need to make appropriate arrangements to gather regularly 
information on : the supply and distribution of care and education 
services for children; the take-up and use of services by families 
and the costs for families; the take-up and use of leave-, the 
provision of employment benefits resulting from collective or 
workplace agreements intended to provide support to workers with 
family responsibilities, and the use of these benefits; and the level 
of participation by men In the care of children. In gathering 
information and reviewing progress in achieving policy objectives, 
particular attention should be paid to the position of certain groups 
of families, including : lone parents; low income families; rural 
families; and families with special and/or other special needs. 
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J. OVERALL CONCLUSIONS 
1. In the Commission's view, it emerges from the analysis of the issues 
examined above that the Member States should undertake measures to 
enable women and men to reconcile employment, education and training 
with responsibilities arising from the care and upbringing of 
children. The Commission therefore recommends that the Member States 
should undertake a number of specific initiatives, in order to ensure 
that all parents with such responsibilities have access to locally-
based and good quality services. 
2. Given that there are major gaps of information, particularly 
concerning the supply of privately funded services, the care 
arrangements made for children while parents are employed and the 
quality of services, it will be necessary to take steps to rectify 
these inadequacies. This process should aim to increase the level 
of knowledge about the provision of care for children to that which 
already exists on the educational system in general. 
3. The Commission undertakes : (a) to promote, in collaboration with the 
Member States and the Social Partners, the exchange, assessment and 
dissemination of information and experience in this field-, and (b) to 
support projects which are innovative and of transnational relevance 
and disseminate the results. 
Annexes: 3 
Parental Employment, 1988 
Germany 
France 
Italy 
Netherlands 
Belgium 
Luxembourg 
j United Kingdom 
[ Ireland 
| Denmark 
1 tiroecc 
Portugal 
Sp.tin 
Kuropoan 
Community % employed -
women with child 
under 10 
38% (21%) 
56% (16%) 
42% (5%) 
32% (27%) 
54% (16%) 
38% (10%) 
46% (32%) 
23% (7%) 
79% (32%) 
41% (5%) 
62% (4%) 
28% (4%) 
44% (17%) % employed - men 
with child under 
10 
94% (1%) 
93% (1%) 
95% (2%) 
91% (9%) 
92% (1%) 
98% (-) 
88% (1%) 
79% (1%) 
95% (2%) 
95% (1%) 
95% (1%) 
89% (1%) 
92% (2%) % employed -
women aged 20-
39, without 
children 
75% (15%) 
75% (11%) 
55% (4%) 
68% (30%) 
68% (13%) 
69% (5%) 
83% (20%) 
67% (6%) 
79% (6%) 
52% (3%) 
69% (6%) 
44% (5%) 
71% (13%) Change in % 
employed, 1985-88 
• women with child 
under 10 
+2.6% (+2.5%) 
+ 1.3% (+1.9%) 
+3.6% (+0.7%) 
+8.2% (+7.7%) 
+2.8% (+2.4%) 
+3.7% (0.6%) 
+7.5% (+6%) 
+5.1% (+1.5%) 
+2.6% (-1.5%) 
+3.8% (-0.2%) 
No Information 
No Information 
No Information % unemployed -
women with child 
under 10 
6% 
10% 
8% 
8% 
12% 
2% 
8% 
8% 
8% 
6% 
6% 
10% 
8% % unemployed -
men with child 
under 10 
3% 
5% 
3% 
5% 
5% 
1% 
8% 
17% 
3% 
3% 
2% 
8% 
5% 
Kt/y. Figures in brackets = % employed part-time o 
I 
I > I z I z i m i x i 
Places in publicly funded childcare services as % of all children in the age group 
Germany 
France 
Italy 
Netherlands 
Belgium 
Luxembourg 
United Kingdom 
Ireland 
Denmark 
Greece 
Portugal 
Spain Date to which data 
refer 
1987 
1988 
1986 
1989 
1988 
1989 
1988 
1988 
1989, 
1988 
1988 
1988 For children under 
3 
3% 
20% 
5% 
2% 
20% 
2% 
2% 
2% 
48% 
4% 
6% 
? For children from 3 
to compulsory 
school age 
65-70% 
95%+ 
85% + 
50-55% 
95%+ 
55-60% 
35-40% 
55% 
85% 
65-70% Age when 
compulsory 
schooling begins 
6-7 years 
6 years 
6 years 
5 years 
6 years 
5 years 
5 years 
6 years 
7 years 
• 
5Vi years 
35% j 6 years 
65-70% 6 years Length of school 
day (including 
midday break) 
4-5 hours (a) 
8 hours 
4 hours 
6-7 hours 
7 hours 
4-8 hours (a) 
6V6 hours 
4'/i-6,/i hours (b) 
3-5V* hours (a,b) 
4-5 hours (b) 
6Vi hours 
8 hours Outside school 
hours care for 
primary school 
children 
4% 
? 
? 
1% 
? 
1% 
(-) 
(-) 
29% 
(-) 
6% 
(-) 
NB. This Table should be read in conjunction with the national reports, which contain important qualifications and explanations. The Table shows the 
number of places in publicly funded services as a % of the child population; the % of children attending may be higher because some places are used on 
a part-time basis. Provision at playgroups in the Netherlands has not been included, although 10% of children under 3 and 25% of children aged 3-4 
attend and most playgroups receive public funds. Average hours of attendance - 5-6 hours per week - are so much shoner than for other services, that it 
would be difficult and potentially misleading to include them on the same basis as other services; however playgroups should not be forgotten when 
considering publicly funded provision in the Netherlands. 
Key: ?» no information; (-) - less than 0.5%; (a) - school hours vary from day to day; (b) « school hours increase as children get older. 
II > 
II z 
II z 
il m 
it x 
il 
\ j & 
Parental Leave * 
Cicmiany 18 months. Low flat-rate payment for 6 
months; payment then depends on family 
income, so higher income family gets less 
France I Until child is 3. No payment unless 3 or 
more children; then low, flat-rate payment 
Italy 6 months. 30% of earnings 
Belgium None, but workers can take leave for family 
or personal reasons (sec national report) 
Netherlands None, but Government proposal for part-
time leave has been made 
Luxembourg None 
United None 
Kingdom 
« 
Ireland None 
Denmark 10 weeks. 90% of earnings (up to a 
maximum level) 
Greece 3 months per parent. Unpaid 
Portugal 24 months. Unpaid 
Spain 12 months. Unpaid Annex 3 
Parental leave means entitlement to leave of a given 
duration to wage-earners/ fathers, mothers, including 
staff working in the public sector, consequential 
upon the birth of a child, during the period following 
the termination of maternity leave, or to workers as 
defined above, or the adoption of a child during the 
period following its reception in the adoptive parents' 
household, during which period of leave the beneficiary 
takes responsibility for the actual care of the child. 
i 
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Proposal for a 
COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION 
on chlId care 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, 
and in particular Article 235 thereof; 
Having regard to the proposal submitted by the Commission(1) 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament of... 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic Social Committee of... 
Whereas point 16 of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights 
of Workers calls for measures to be developed to enable men and women to 
reconcile their occupational and family obligations; 
Whereas the Commission in its action programme implementing the Community 
Charter has included among its aims the adoption of a recommendation 
concerning child care; 
Whereas the Community Charter notes that child-care methods, parental leave 
and maternity leave form part of a whole which enables people to combine 
their family responsibilities and occupational ambitions, and a Community 
response alone will not suffice, if this objective is to be attained; 
Whereas in its Third Medium-Term Action Programme on Equal Opportunities 
for Women and Men (1991-1995), the Commission identified the need for 
further action in this area; 
Whereas the Communication from the Commission on Family Policies^2* draws 
attention to the need to continue actions to reconcile professional and 
family life and encourage the sharing of family responsibilities, and 
emphasises the importance of intensifying work relating to child care; 
Whereas the reconciliation of professional and family life has to be viewed 
in a wide perspective and it is important for the Community to promote a 
global policy aiming to achieve this reconciliation; 
Whereas it is essential to promote the well-being of children and families, 
ensuring that the needs of all children and families are met and taking 
into account that responsibilities arising from the care and upbringing of 
children continue up to and throughout the period of children's schooling, 
and to recognise the diversity that exists in the employment and household 
circumstances of parents; 
(1) 
(2) C0M(89) 363 final, 8.8.1989. 
- 14 
Whereas inadequate provision of good quality, affordable services providing 
care for children and other measures to reconcile responsibility for the 
care and upbringing of children with the employment, education and training 
of parents constitutes a major barrier to women's access to and full 
participation in employment, education and training, on equal terms with 
men, as well as full participation in all areas of society; 
Whereas improvements in services and other measures to reconcile 
responsibilities for the care and upbringing of children with the 
employment, education and training of parents are crucial in order to 
enable women to take full and equal advantage of the favourable effects of 
the Single Market; 
Whereas furthermore, adequate services providing care for children could 
facilitate freedom of movement of workers and mobility on the European 
labour market; 
Whereas child care is a broad concept which involves good quality service 
provision, the development of a working environment which is supportive of 
parents with responsibility for the care and upbringing of children, and 
the sharing of family responsibilities between women and men; 
Whereas lack of services providing care for children and other measures to 
reconcile the care and upbringing of children with the employment, 
education and training of parents hinders the effective use of women's 
talents, skills and abilities and whereas demographic trends and structural 
changes on the labour market call for these to be better used; 
Whereas some of the Member States have undertaken initiatives in this area 
but the measures involved have often remained limited; 
Whereas in all Member States the demand for good quality, affordable care 
for children considerably exceeds the existing supply; 
Whereas, moreover, disparities exist in good quality, affordable services 
providing care for children and other measures to reconcile the care and 
upbringing of children with the employment, education and training of 
parents between Member States and between regions within Member States; 
Whereas the standard clause included in the Community Support Frameworks 
for structural policy stipulates that the actions and measures taken within 
such a framework must conform with and, where appropriate, contribute to 
the implementation of Community policy and legislation relating to 
equality of opportunity between women and men, and that in particular, 
consideration must be given to training and infrastructure requirements 
which facilitate labour force participation by women with children; 
Whereas, furthermore, in the NOW Community Initiative for the promotion of 
equal opportunities for women in the field of employment and vocational 
training, child-care measures are provided to assist women with children 
to have access to the labour market and to vocational training courses; 
- 15 -
Whereas it is therefore important to establish Community guidelines for 
carrying out a number of specific comprehensive actions, in order to ensure 
the development of good quality and affordable services providing care for 
children and other measures to reconcile the care and upbringing of 
children with the employment, education and training of parents, 
HEREBY RECOMMENDS AS FOLLOWS 
Article 1 
It is recommended that Member States develop measures in order to enable 
women and men to reconcile their occupational and their family obligations, 
arising from the care and upbringing of children. 
Article 2 
It is recommended that, to this end, the Member States develop with the 
appropriate involvement of central, regional and local authorities, the 
Social Partners and other relevant organisations, measures in the following 
four areas: 
(i) the provision of care for children while parents are in or 
seeking employment, education or training; 
(II) leave arrangements for employed parents with responsibility for 
the care and upbringing of children-, 
(IN) the environment, structure and organisation of the workplace, 
to make it responsive to the needs of workers with children; 
(iv) the sharing of family responsibilities arising from the care 
and upbringing of children between women and men. 
Article 3 
In relation to the provision of services providing care for children, it is 
recommended that Member States should take measures designed to: 
(a) enable all parents in or seeking employment, education or 
training to have access to locally based and good quality 
services. This requires that services are affordable, services 
combine safe and secure care with a broad education or 
pedagogical approach, the needs of parents and children are 
taken into account in determining access to services, services 
should be available In all areas and regions of Member States, 
both urban and rural areas, services should ensure access to 
children with special needs, with linguistic needs and to 
children in lone parent families, and be responsive to those 
needs ; 
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(b) encourage flexibility and diversity of services, as part of a 
strategy to increase choice and meet the different preferences, 
needs and circumstances of children and families. Thi^ should 
be combined with coherence between different services; 
(c) seek to improve the training (both initial and continous) of 
workers in child-care services, with the objective of ensuring 
that this training is appropriate to the great importance and 
social and educative value of their work; 
(d) encourage services to work closely with parents and with local 
communities involving regular contact and exchanges of 
information, so as to be responsive to local parental needs and 
circumstances; 
(e) ensure that public funding makes an essential contribution to 
the development of affordable, good quality, coherent services 
which offer choice to parents. 
Article 4 
In relation to leave arrangements for employed parents with responsibility 
for the care and upbringing of children, it is recommended that Member 
States should continue to develop measures to take realistic account of 
women's increased participation in the labour force. This requires the 
provision of leave to enable all employed parents, both men and women, to 
discharge effectively their dual working and family responsibilities, with, 
inter al la. flexibility in how leave may be taken. 
Article 5 
In relation to the environment, structure and organisation of the 
workplace, it is recommended that Member States should: 
(a) encourage both sides of industry to promote action, inter 
ai la. within the framework of collective agreements, to make 
the environment, structure and organisation of individual 
workplaces supportive of the needs of all working parents with 
responsibilities for the care and upbringing of children; 
(b) undertake initiatives to improve the employment conditions of 
workers in services providing care for children and ensure that 
the social value of their work is recognized; 
(c) promote action especially in the public sector which might 
serve as an example in developing initiatives in this area. 
- 17 -
Article 6 
In relation to responsibilities arising from the care and upbringing of 
children, it is recommended that Member States promote and encourage 
increased participation by men, in order to achieve a more equal sharing of 
parental responsibilities between men and women. 
Article 7 
The Member States shall inform the Commission, within three years of the 
date of the adoption of this Recommendation, of the measures taken to give 
effect to it, in order to allow the Commission to draw up a report on all 
such measures. 
Done at Brussels, For the Council 
The President 

ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(91) 233 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 05 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-371-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-75325-0 
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