REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the development of childcare facilities for young children with a view to increase female labour participation, strike a work-life balance for working parents and bring about sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe (the "Barcelona objectives")
Date: 2018-05-08
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU employment policy, EU growth strategy, European social policy, child, child care, children's rights, female work, gender equality, labour market, work-life balance

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 8.5.2018 COM(2018) 273 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the development of childcare facilities for young children with a view to increase female labour participation, strike a work-life balance for working parents and bring about sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe (the "Barcelona objectives")  
 
 
Executive summary  

The  availability,  accessibility  and  affordability  of  high  quality  childcare  facilities  are  crucial  for 
enabling  women,  and  men,  with  caring  responsibilities,  to  participate  in  the  labour  market1.  High 
quality  early  childhood  education  and  care  is  also  an  important  tool  to  tackle  possible  social 
disadvantages of children2 and is good for the cognitive and social development of children from an 
early age3.  

As far back as 2002, the Barcelona European Council4 recognised this situation and set objectives with 
regard  to  the  availability  of  high  quality  and  affordable  childcare  facilities  for  pre-school  children, 
through two targets, i.e. 90 % of children from age 3 until mandatory school age and 33 % of children 
under 3.  

The aim of this report is to assess, as part of the implementation of the Commission's Communication 
supporting  work-life  balance  for  working  parents  and  carers5,  to  what  extent  Member  States  have 
progressed towards implementing the Barcelona objectives since the last report in 2013.  

All in all, the Barcelona target has been generally reached for children under the age of 3 for the EU-
28, covering 32.9% of children in the EU, even if important differences persist among Member States.  

The target of 33 % has largely been reached in 12 Member States according to the most recent data of 
2016,  while  in  7  EU  Member  States  out  of  12  between  33  %  and  49 %  of  children  have  access  to 
childcare and in 5 EU Member States 50 % or more of children have access to childcare. In remaining 
16 Member States, less than 33% of children have access to childcare, with 10 Member States where 
less than 25 % of children in the smallest age group participate in childcare. 

The Barcelona target has not yet been reached for children from 3 to mandatory school-going age. As 
of 2016, 86.3 % of children from 3 to the mandatory school-going age participate in formal childcare 
or attend preschool. The Barcelona target has been reached in 12 Member States and all the rest of 16 
Member States have not yet reached the target. 

Availability and use of childcare is influenced by several factors:namely legal entitlement to childcare, 
accessibilitby  and  quality.  Also  the  adaptability  of  the  services  to  the  needs  of  parents,  including 
distance to the childcare facilities and opening hours adapted to working patterns and needs, plays an 
important role.  

As caring responsiblities are the main reason for low female labour market participation, counting to  
370 billion euro a year of loss for Europe, the Barcelona objectives, adopted by the European Council 
in 2002, are still of crucial importance in 2018.  

1 Commission's Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016/-2019 
2 Commission Recommendation 'Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage' , COM (2013)112 final of 20.2.2013 and 
SWD(2017), 258 final. 
3 Education and Training 2020 Strategic Framework (ET2020), OJ 2009/C 119/02. 
4 Presidency Conclusions, Barcelona European Council 15-16 March 2002 
5 Commission's Communication 'An initiative to support work-life balance for working parents and carers', COM(2017) 252final of 
26.4.2017. 

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1. Policy context 

The underrepresentation of women is one of the most persistent problems affecting the labour market 
in all European Union (EU) Member States. The overall gender employment gap, that is the difference 
in employment rates of women and men, is 11.6 percentage points, going up to 18.2 percentage points 
in full-time equivalents.6 The resulting economic loss amounts to 370 billion euro a year.7 

The  main  reason  for  low  female  labour  market  participation  is  the  caring  responsibilities 
disproportionately born by women compared to men. Women have caring  responsibilities at various 
times  in  their  lives,  but  all  the  more  so  when  they  have  young  children.  In  2016,  the  average 
employment rate of women with one child under 6 was 9 percentage points lower than that of women 
without  young  children,  with  the  difference  amounting  to  above  30  percentage  points  in  several 
Member  States.  In  some  Member  States,  25 %  of  inactive  women  are  inactive  due  to  caring 
responsibilities. 

The  availability,  accessibility  and  affordability  of  high  quality  childcare  facilities  are  crucial  for 
enabling women, and men, with caring responsibilities, to participate in the labour market. 

As far back as 2002, the Barcelona European Council8 recognised this situation and set objectives with 
regard  to  the  availability  of  high  quality  and  affordable  childcare9  facilities  for  pre-school  children, 
through two targets:  

"Member states should remove disincentives to female labour force participation and strive, 
taking  into  account  the  demand  for  childcare  facilities  and  in  line  with  national  patterns  of 
provision, to provide childcare by 2010 

o 
o 

to 90 % of children from age 3 until mandatory school age; and  
to 33 % of children under 3 years of age." 

The European Council required these targets to be reached by 2010. In its 2013 report assessing the 
state of play , the European Commission concluded that these were not reached for either category of 
children, 0 to 3 and 3 to mandatory school-going age10.  

In  2013,  the  European  Commission's  report  on  the  Barcelona  objectives11  stated  that,  although 
progress  was  made  since  2002,  the  provision  of  childcare  was  still  not  in  line  with  the  Barcelona 
targets and that significant improvements were needed to achieve a satisfactory level of availability, 
especially for children under 3 :  

  Only  6  Member  States  managed  to  reach  the  targets  for  both  age  categories  (0-3;  3  to 

mandatory school-going age) in 201112; 

  3 Member States reached only the target for children from 3 until mandatory school age13; 
  4 Member States reached only the target for children from 0 to 314. 

6 Eurostat, Labour Force Survey, 2016. 
7 Eurofound (2016), The gender employment gap: challenges and solutions. 
8 Presidency Conclusions, Barcelona European Council 15-16 March 2002, available at: 
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/71025.pdf. 
9 The reference to 'care', 'childcare' and 'formal childcare' in the Barcelona objectives includes education, insofar as children are given care 
not  only  in  childcare  facilities  but  also  in  pre-schools  before  the  mandatory  school-going  age.  Childcare  facilities  for  children  under 
mandatory school age therefore include day nurseries and other day care centres such as family day care, professional certified child minders 
in the home of the child or the childminder, pre-school education or equivalent mandatory school education and centre based services outside 
school hours. Early childhood education and care and preschool education are equally used as synonyms in this report.  
10 In this report, to stay in line with the terminology used in the Barcelona Council conclusions,  mandatory school age or mandatory school-
going age refers to mandatory primary school-going age, in most countries around the age of 6.  
11 European Commission, Barcelona objectives (2013), available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/130531_barcelona_en_0.pdf. 
12 Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden, Slovenia and the UK 
13 Germany, Italy and Estonia.  
14 Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The  Commission's  report  not  only  focused  on  the  availability  of  childcare,  but  also  included 
accessibility, affordability and quality of available childcare.  

Indeed, a full labour market participation of women requires childcare to be available full-time and to 
meet  the  demands  of  work  during  the  parents'  working  hours  and  school    holidays.  What’s  more, 
childcare  is  really  only  an  option  if  female  workers  can  afford  it  and  feel  sufficiently  assured  of  its 
high quality.  

This  is  why  the  Barcelona  objectives,  and  the  included    targets,  were  also  restated  in  the  European 
Pact for Gender Equality (2011-2020) and referred to in the Europe 2020 Strategy. 

Besides the regular monitoring of the implementation of the Barcelona objectives, the availability of 
affordable and high quality childcare is monitored as a key way of increasing women's labour market 
participation  in  the  European  Semester  process.  This  is  the  EU's  annual  economic  governance 
framework aimed at monitoring, preventing, and correcting problematic economic trends 15.  

In the context of the European Pillar of Social Rights,  the Commission adopted on 26 April 2017 the 
work-life balance initiative, a set of legislative and non-legislative measures modernising the current 
legal and policy frameworks regarding family leaves16, flexible working arrangements and formal care 
services,  and  tackling  economic  disincentives  for  second-earners  to  work.  Improving  the  quality, 
affordability  and  accessibility  of  childcare  is  an  important  part  of  this  initiative,  which  is  done  by 
regular  monitoring  of  the  targets,  improving  data  collection  and  promoting  the  use  of  the  European 
Structural and Investment Funds to invest in social infrastructure.17 

Affordable and high quality childcare services do not only help reconciliation of work with family life, 
conducive to labour market participation of women and strenghtening gender equality. They also help 
children integrate socio-economically and develop their skills from an early age.18 

The  2013  Commission  Recommendation  on  ‘Investing  in  children:  breaking  the  cycle  of 
disadvantage’19, endorsed by the Council in November 2013, urges the Member States to invest more 
in  policies  on  children  to  strengthen  their  rights,  reduce  child  poverty  and  improve  well-being  of 
children.  It  is  part  of  a  much  wider  ‘social  investment  package’  (SIP)  giving  Member  States  policy 
guidance  on  life-long  social  investment.  The  Recommendation  stresses  that  there  is  ample  evidence 
that  disadvantaged  children  who  benefited  from  childcare  services  are  less  likely  to  drop  out  of 
secondary school and face unemployed, thus avoiding a number of other social problems. 

Furthermore,  the  2009  Education  Council  adopted  education  and  training  benchmarks  under  the 
Education and Training 2020 Strategic Framework (ET2020) 20, including one for children between 4 
and the mandatory school-going age21. According to this benchmark or target, at least 95 % of children 

15 In 2017, 6 countries received a country specific recommendation to address issues related to childcare as part of obstacles to female labour 
participation. In 2018, childcare was highlighted as a point of attention in 17 country reports, focusing on specific country relevant aspects, 
such as availability, affordability, accessibility of childcare and female employment participation. 
16 Family leave includes maternity, paternity and parental as well as carers' leave.  
17 See Commission's Communication 'An initiative to support work-life balance for working parents and carers', COM(2017) 252final of 
26.4.2017. 
18 Evidence on the importance of high quality childcare is also provided by several research projects financed under the EU's 7th Framework 
Programme  for  Research  and  the  Horizon  2020  Societal  Challenge  6  (Europe  in  a  changing  world,  Inclusive,  innovative  and  reflective 
Societies). These projects address the role of Early Childhood Education and Care as far as inequalities and poverty & children's well-being 
and  development  are  concerned,  as  well  as  the  choice  of  different  child  care  options,  taking  into  account  families'  specificities  (socio-
economic, cultural) and different institutional contexts. 
19 See, SWD(2017), 258 final. 
20 Education and Training 2020 Strategic Framework (ET2020), OJ 2009/C 119/02.  
21 In the Education and Training Strategic Framework (ET2020), mandatory school-going age is referred to as the age for starting 
compulsory primary education.  

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from 4 to mandatory school-going age should participate in early childhood education and care22. The 
objective  of  the  ET2020  is  to  improve  national  education  and  training  systems  to  make  the  EU  the 
most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.  

Besides  the  Barcelona  objectives,  the  Commission  regularly  monitors  the  implementation  of  the 
education and  training targets included in the ET2020, including the target for children from 4  until 
mandatory  school-going  age.23  In  2017,  it  found  that  94.8 %  of  children  were  participating  in  early 
childhood education and care on average in the European Union. The ET 2020 target may therefore be 
considered  to  be  generally  reached.  In  the  light  of  this  finding,  in  its  Communication  on  Work-Life 
Balance, the Commission announced a review of the existing ET2020 target.  It confirmed this in its 
Communication of 17 November 2017 on strengthening European identity24 suggesting that the 95% 
target could be extended to children from 3 years until mandatory school age. Such a revision would 
entail  an  increase  of  the  existing  Barcelona  target  for  children  between  3  years  old  and  mandatory 
school  age  by  5 %.  In  addition,  the  Commission  committed  to  consider  the  quality  of  childcare 
systems.  

In May 2018, the Commission presented a proposal for a Council Recommendation on High Quality 
Early Childhood Education and Care Systems, as part of the Education Package25, accompanied by a 
Commission Staff Working Document. The aim of the proposal is to encourage and support Member 
States in their efforts to improve access to and the quality of their early childhood education and care 
systems. The underlying rationale is that the early years of a person's life are the most formative for 
developing  the  basic  skills  and  learning  capacities  that  can  influence  greatly  later  education  and  job 
prospects and broader life achievements and life satisfaction.  

The  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  endorsed  by  Member  States  on  17  November  2017,  has 
confirmed  the  importance  of  formal  childcare  structures.  The  'Social  Scoreboard'  accompanying  the 
Pillar monitors the implementation of principle 11 of the Pillar  on childcare, in particular of children 
under 3 years. 

All of the above shows that access to affordable and high quality early childhood education and care 
serves three main purposes: 

 
 
 

to enhance the labour market potential of women with children;  
to develop the cognitive and social abilities of pre-school children; 
to strengthen the social inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds26.  

The aim of this report is to assess, as part of the implementation of the Commission's Communication 
supporting  work-life  balance  for  working  parents  and  carers,  to  what  extent  Member  States  have 
progressed  towards  implementing  the  Barcelona  objectives  since  the  2013  report.  This  assessment, 
together with the conclusion that the ET2020 has generally been reached, shows that time may have 
come to consider an overall coherent revision of all targets for children between 0 and the mandatory 
school-going age. 

22 Early childhood education and care, the term used in the Education and Training Strategic Engagement, is used in this report as 
synonymous with childcare,  the term used in the Barcelona objectives.  
23 European Commission (2017), Education and Training Monitor 2017, available at:   
https://ec.europa.eu/education/sites/education/files/monitor2017_en.pdf. 
24 Communication from the Commission to the EP, Council, EESC and CoR on Strengthening European Identity through Education and 
Culture – the European Commission's contribution to the Leaders' meeting in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, COM (2017) 673final. 
25 Commission Proposal for Council Recommendation on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems. 
26 Taking stock of the 2013 Recommendation on 'Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage', SWD(2017), 258 final. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
2. The importance of childcare to increase women's labour market participation 

While  female  labour  market  participation  has  increased,  there  is  still  an  employment  gap  between 
female  and  male  labour  market  participation  in  all  Member  States.  For  the  EU-28,  the  gap  is  11.6 
percentage points and 18.2 percentage points in terms of full-time equivalent. Lithuania has the lowest 
gap (2 %) and Malta the highest (27 %).  

[Figure 1: Employment rate of women and men aged 15-64, 2016, %] 

Source: LFS 2016 

The gender employment gap is closely related to caring responsibilities.  

Even  if  in  most  Member  States  the  dual  earner  model  (both  partners  working  full-time)  or  the 
modified  breadwinner  model  (one  partner  working  part-time  and  the  other  one  full-time),  have 
replaced  the  male  breadwinner  model,  the  gender  gap  in  terms  of  inactivity  and  part-time  work 
remains significant -  31 % of women work part-time, compared to 8 % of men. The Netherlands has 
the highest rate of part-time workers with 76.4 % of women and 26.2 % of men working part time.   

Differences  across  Member  States  are  very  striking  when  considering  the  reasons  why  women 
withdraw  from  the  labour  market  or  work  part  time  (Figure  1  and  2).  Indeed,  more  than  10%  of 
women  in  Malta,  Ireland,  Cyprus,  Romania,  Poland,  Italy,  Spain,  Croatia    and  Bulgaria  are  inactive 
because of their personal or family responsibilities, mostly for looking after children or incapacitated 
adults  (Figure  2  below).  In  addition,  more  than  10%  of  women  are  working  part-time  in  the 
Netherlands,  Austria,  the  UK,  Germany,  Belgium,  Luxembourg  and  Ireland  because  of  caring 
responsibilities (Figure 3 below). 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
[Figure 2: Inactivity due to personal and family responsibilities (looking after children or 
incapacitated adults and other family or personal responsibilities), women, %] 

Source: LFS 2006-2013 

[Figure 3: Part-time work due to personal and family responsibilities (looking after children or 
incapacitated adults and other family or personal responsibilities), women, %] 

Source: LFS 2006-2013 

A closer look at the underlying reasons for inactivity and part-time work shows that around 20 % of 
the  people  with  caring  responsibilities  are  inactive  or  work  part-time  due  to  a  lack  of  care 
infrastructure. This ranges from more than 80 % who are either inactive or work part-time in Romania 
and  Latvia  to  more  than  30 %  of  people  in  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Greece,  Spain,  Ireland,  Portugal, 
Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia and Poland to less than 10 % in the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
[Figure 4: Women who are inactive or work part-time due to care responsibilities who report a 
lack of suitable care services, %] 

Source: LFS 2006-2013 

Insufficient childcare infrastructure affects female labour market participation. The negative impact of 
parenthood on the employment of women has been recognised as a significant challenge in  Hungary, 
the Czech republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Germany, Finland and the UK27. 

 [Figure 5: Employment impact of parenthood on women, %] 

Source: LFS 2006-2013 

Lower  female  labour  market  participation  and  the  lack  of  formal  childcare  infrastructure  are  also 
linked  to  a  traditional  perception  of  women’s  role  in  society.  Nearly  three  quarters  of  European 
citizens confirm that women spend more time than men on household work and caring activities. This 
is often the result of societal norms that ascribe women the role as the main caretaker of children and 
the family household. In a recent Eurobarometer survey, more than 4 in 10 Europeans (44 %) believe 

27 See relevant Country reports 2017 in the context of the European Semester, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2017-
european-semester-country-reports_en. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
the most important role of a woman is to take care of her home and family. In one third of EU Member 
States this goes up to 70 % or more28. Nearly three quarters indicate that women spend more time than 
men  on household and caring activities. 22 % believe that men and women spend  equal amounts of 
time  on  these  activities.  There  is  however  a  slow  change  between  generations.  The  youngest 
respondents  are  slightly  more  likely  to  say  that  men  and  women  spend  equal  amounts  of  time  on 
household and caring activites: this is the case for 26 % of respondents between 15 and 24, compared 
to 21% of respondents aged 40 or more.  

[Figure 6: Which of the following statements regarding the share of housework and caring 
activities in households do you think best applies nowadays?, (% - EU)] 

Source: Special Eurobarometer 465 (2017) 

The survey shows that a lot of work still needs to be done in all Member States. The Gender Equality 
Index published by the European Institute for Gender Equality in 2017 highlighted that compared to 
10 years ago 12 countries have moved backwards when it comes to the gender balance in time spent 
on care, housework and social activities Only every third man cooks and does housework every day, 
whereas most women do so every day (79 %). With an average score of 66.2 for gender equality, the 
EU is still a long way away from having a gender-balanced society.29  

Caring responsibilities are also distributed unequally among women and men in paid employment. The 
2015 European Working Conditions Survey shows that in households with the youngest child under 7, 
women spend on average 32 hours a week on paid work and 39 hours on unpaid work, whereas men 
spend  41  hours  a  week  on  paid  work  and  19  hours  on  unpaid  work.30  While  both  men  and  women 
increase their unpaid working hours when they have children, the proportion of housework done and 
care given by each is far from equal. This remains the case throughout life, including towards the end 
of  working  life.  A  woman’s  working  life  is  therefore  more  likely  to  be  affected  by  such 
responsibilities.  

The unequal role of women as caretakers is reinforced by the insufficient provision of accessible and 
affordable  high  quality  childcare  for  children  under  3.  The  European  ngo  on  family  organisations, 
COFACE31  highlights  the  importance  of  this,  suggesting  three  ways  of  helping  women  achieve  a 

28 Special Eurobarometer 465 (2017), Gender Equality 2017, [EBS 465], available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/SPECIAL/surveyKy/2154. 
29 In the past 10 years, the score has increased by only 4 points. European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) (2017), Gender Equality 
Index 2017 – Measuring gender equality in the European Union 2005-2015 Report, available at: http://eige.europa.eu/rdc/eige-
publications/gender-equality-index-2017-measuring-gender-equality-european-union-2005-2015-report. 
30 Eurofound (2016), Sixth European Working Conditions Survey, available at: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/surveys/european-working-
conditions-surveys/sixth-european-working-conditions-survey-2015. 
31 COFACE (2017), Who cares? A study on the challenges and needs of family carers in Europe.  

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
work-life  balance:  (1)  financial  resources  to  assist  parents  in  various  ways;  (2)  family-friendly 
working arrangements; (3) accessible, high quality, affordable childcare services.   

The lack of available childcare facilities determines to a great extent whether women with children can 
continue working32. A recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 
(OECD) confirms the key link between childcare and female labour market participation: 

'Affordable and high quality ECEC with an adequate number of hours per week can contribute to  an 
increase in the participation of women in the labour force. Working parents, mothers in particular, are 
more likely to drop out of the labour market or work fewer hours to take up childcare duties, especially 
when children are young. Therefore, women need high quality, affordable Early Childhood Education 
and  Care  to  be  able  to  return  to  work  with  confidence  that  their  children  are  well  cared  for,  and  in 
order to achieve a better work-life balance'. 33  

Services  that  help  parents  to  achieve  a  work-life  balance  therefore  play  a  crucial  role,  besides  other 
important  measures  such  as  attractive  family  leaves  and  family-friendly  working  arrangements 
adapted  to  the  private  situation  of  workers  and  tax  and  benefit  systems  that  do  not  disincentivise 
second earners. The Barcelona objectives aim to break the self-perpetuating cycle that keeps women 
from  participating  in  the  labour  market  on  an  equal  footing  with  men.  Furthermore,  family-friendly 
policies might also impact on reversing the trend of decreasing child birth rates in the Union.  

3. Achieving the Barcelona target for children from 0 to 3 

For the first time since the EU started monitoring the achievement of childcare objectives, the target 
for children from 0 to 3 has been reached on average in the EU-28. The overall rate reached in 2016 
was 32.9 %. 

However, there are huge differences among the Member States, as the table below on the provision of 
childcare infrastructure for children from 0 to 3 years shows.. 

The target of 33 % has largely been reached in 12 Member States in 2016: Denmark, the Netherlands, 
Sweden, Luxembourg, Portugal, France, Belgium, Slovenia, Spain, Italy, Germany and Finland. In 7 
EU Member States (Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Belgium and France) between 33 % and 
49 % of children have access to childcare (see the cells in green). In 5 EU Member States (Denmark, 
the  Netherlands,  Sweden,  Luxembourg  and  Portugal)  50  %  or  more  of  children  have  access  to 
childcare (see the cells in blue). Denmark is the absolute champion with more than the double of the 
target (70 %) reached. 

The picture is less positive in the remaining 16 Member States. The cells in orange show that in 6 EU 
Member  States  (Malta,  Estonia,  Ireland,  the  UK,  Latvia  and  Cyprus)  between  25 %  and  33 %  of 
children  aged  0  to  3  years  old  have  access  to  childcare.  In  10  Member  States,  less  than  25  %  of 
children  in  the  smallest  age  group  participate  in  childcare  (see  red  cells).  These  include  Greece, 
Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with a rate of less than 10 %.  

32 Esping-Andersen outlined in 2009 that the lack of services to help women achieve a work-life balance would either lead to a ‘childless low 
fertility equilibrium’ or a ‘low income-low employment equilibrium’. De Heneu, Meulders and O'Dorchai (2010), who analysed the effect of 
various public policies aimed at dual earner couples with children in 15 EU Member States, including childcare provision, child-related leave 
and tax and cash benefits, concluded that public childcare provision had the strongest impact on female labour market participation. In 2013, 
Ehrel and Guergoat-Larivière studied the effect of individual and institutional factors on female employment rates in 22 Member States and 
found that formal childcare (childminder or public childcare) and part-time work have a positive effect on female employment. 
33 OECD (2017), Starting Strong, available at: http://www.oecd.org/education/starting-strong-2017-9789264276116-en.htm 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
In conclusion, the Barcelona target for childcare for children from 0 to 3 has generally been reached in 
the  EU.  This  is  mainly  due  to  the  large  coverage  rate  in  the  Member  States  that  have  reached  the 
target.  

[Table 1: Children cared for in formal childcare structures, 0 to 3 years, %] 

Source: EU-SILC 2016 

It  appears  that  since  2011  there  has  been  a  considerable  increase  in  childcare  coverage  for  children 
under  3  in  a  number  of  countries.  This  is  most  striking  in  Malta  (increase  of  20  percentage  points, 
from  11  %  to  31 %),  Romania  (15  percentage  points,  from  2  %  to  17 %),  Estonia  (11  percentage 
points, from 19 % to 30 %), Italy (9 percentage points, from 25 % to 34 %), Germany (9 percentage 
points, from 24 % to 33 %) and Ireland (8 percentage points, from 21 % to 29 %). On the other hand, 
there  have  been  significant  drops  in  childcare  coverage  for  this  age  group  in  Greece  (10  percentage 
points, from 19 % to 9 %) and Slovakia (3 percentage points, from 4 % to less than 0.5 %).  

Across Member States, there are differences in how many hours children usually  spend  in childcare 
facilities: in half of the countries studied childcare for children from 0 to 3 years is used mainly on a 
part-time basis (less than 30 hours a week),. This is the case in the Netherlands (where 3 women out of 
4  work  part-time)  the  UK,  Ireland  and  Austria.  On  the  other  hand,  full-time  childcare  (30  hours  or 

10 

GEO/TIME201120122013201420152016European Union (EU28)29272728.430.332.9Denmark74676569.677.370.0Netherlands52464644.646.453.0Sweden51525556.864.051.0Luxembourg44484749.051.850.9Portugal35343845.047.249.9France44403939.541.748.9Belgium39484648.850.143.8Slovenia37383937.437.439.6Spain39363536.939.739.3Italy25212222.927.334.4Finland26292833.232.532.7Germany24242827.525.932.6Malta11172018.217.931.3Estonia19182119.421.430.2Ireland21312927.430.628.6United Kingdom34273028.930.428.4Latvia16232321.622.928.3Cyprus25262525.520.824.8Austria14141716.022.320.6Romania21562.69.417.4Croatia13111117.111.815.7Hungary881014.415.415.6Lithuania981022.99.715.2Bulgaria781111.28.912.5Greece19201412.811.48.9Poland3655.55.37.9Czech Republic5324.42.94.7Slovakia4546.51.10.5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
more  a  week)  is  used  most  among  children  attending  childcare  in  Bulgaria,  Lithuania,  Hungary, 
Latvia, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Luxembourg, Belgium, Poland and Greece.  

[Figure  7:  Children  in  formal  childcare  or  education  by  age  group,  from  0  to  3,  %  and  time 
spent in childcare] 

Source: EU-SILC 2016  

4. Achieving the Barcelona target for children from 3 to the mandatory school-going age 

As  of  2016,  86.3  %  of  children  from  3  to  the  mandatory  school-going  age  participate  in  formal 
childcare or attend preschool, meaning that the Barcelona target has not yet been reached, even though 
some progress has been made since 2011.  

The  Barcelona  target  has  been  reached  in  12  Member  States:  Belgium,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Spain, 
France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Italy, Portugal,  Germany and Slovenia (see green and blue 
cells in Table 2). Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, and Spain, have exceeded the target with  95 % (see the 
cells in blue). In 8 Member States (France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Italy, Portugal, Germany, 
Slovenia), between 90 % and 95 % of children participate in childcare or preschool care (see the cells 
in green in Table 2).  

On the other hand, 16 Member States have not yet reached the target. In Austria, Malta, Luxembourg 
and Hungary, more than 85 % of children participate in childcare or preschool (see the cells in orange 
in  Table  2).  In  Finland,  Latvia,  the  Czech  Republic,  Cyprus,  Lithuania,  Slovakia,  Bulgaria,  the  UK, 
Poland, Romania, Greece, and Croatia, less than 85 % of children participate in childcare or preschool 
(see  cells  in  red  in  Table  2).  Less  than  65  %  of  children  in  Croatia,  Greece,  Romania  and  Poland 
participate in childcare or preschool. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
[Table 2:  Children cared for in formal childcare structures, from 3 to the mandatory school-
going age, % over time] 

Source: EU-SILC 2016 

The overall rate has only slightly increased since 2011, but there has been a considerable increase in  
childcare participation rate for children from the 3 until the mandatory school-going age in a number 
of  Member  States.  This  is  most  striking  in  Romania  (increase  of  20  percentage  points  from  41%  to 
61%), Poland (18 percentage points, from 43% to 61%), Malta (15 percentage points, from 73% to 88 
%), Hungary (15 percentage points, from 73% to 88%), Luxembourg (14 percentage points, from 73% 
to 87%), Ireland (11 percentage points, from 82% to 93 %), Portugal (11 percentage points, from 81% 
to 92%), Spain (10 percentage points, from 85% to 95 %), Latvia (10 percentage points, from 72% to 
82%) and Lithuania (8 percentage points, from 70% to 78%).  

On the other hand, there has been also a drop in care rates for this age group in various EU Member 
States, such as the UK (20 percentage points, from 93% to 73%) and in Greece (19 %, from 75% to 
56%).  

In the majority of Member States, 52% of children in this age group attend childcare or preschool for 
30  hours  or  more  a  week,  whereas  34  %  of  children  in  this  age  group,  particularly  the  majority  of 
children in Romania, the UK, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands, attend childcare or preschool for 
less than 30 hours a week.   

12 

GEO/TIME201120122013201420152016European Union (EU28)83838283.183.386.3Belgium981009897.898.898.6Sweden95969694.896.296.6Denmark98949995.297.295.9Spain85929093.292.095.2France95959295.893.693.9Netherlands89898687.290.793.5Ireland82898989.392.092.9Estonia92939194.092.992.8Italy95919090.685.992.6Portugal81868588.789.992.0Germany 90918988.789.691.8Slovenia92929190.390.989.9Austria84807985.785.388.7Malta73919299.488.488.1Luxembourg73807373.981.987.2Hungary75758586.389.186.8Finland77777980.682.883.9Latvia72797979.282.381.9Czech Republic74757675.777.581.0Cyprus73748079.681.478.5Lithuania70747480.173.878.4Slovakia75717474.767.677.3Bulgaria62897871.671.574.7United Kingdom93727170.072.873.4Poland43363842.543.061.0Romania41595155.858.260.8Greece75766956.567.155.6Croatia51404740.252.951.3 
 
 
 
 
  
 
[Figure 8: Children in formal childcare or education by age group, from 3 to the mandatory 
school-going age, % and time spent in childcare or education]  

Source: EU-SILC 2016 

Since the education and training target set in 2009 has been reached (formal childcare attendance of 
95 % of children from the 4 until the mandatory school-going age), this means that the main challenge 
in  this  Barcelona  target  group  is  the  3  to  4  years  of  age.  As  a  result,  in  its  European  Identity 
Communication of November 2017 the Commission suggested extending the Education Target of 95 
% to all children from 3 to the mandatory school-going age.34 

5. Factors that affect reaching the Barcelona objectives 

5. 1 Expenditure on childcare 

Public expenditure can play an important role with regard to the availability, affordibility, accessibility 
and quality of childcare. The percentage of GDP spent on childcare varies considerably across the EU. 
It is the highest in Sweden, Denmark, France and Bulgaria. The focus of spending on age groups also 
varies.  In  some  countries,  the  focus  is  mostly  on  childcare  for  children  from  3  to  the  mandatory 
school-going age.  

[Table 3: Public expenditure on childcare and pre-primary education and total public 
expenditure on early childhood education and care, % of GDP, 2013] 

34 See Communication from the Commission to the EP, Council, EESC and CoR on Strengthening European Identity through Education and 
Culture – the European Commission’s contribution to the Leaders’ meeting in Gothenburg on 17 November 2017, COM (2017) 673 final and 
the proposal for a Council Recommendation on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Source: OECD Family database 

Some countries have chosen to invest in a comprehensive system of childcare.  

The  Danish  childcare  system,  for  example,  is  quite  comprehensive.  Municipalities  provide  parents 
with childcare, regardless of their employment status, from when their children are 26 weeks old until 
they  reach  the  mandatory  school-going  age.  Childcare  is  divided  between  nurseries  (0  to  2)  and 
kindergartens (3 to 6), as well as private childminders who usually mind children in their homes. The 
municipality  supervises  privately  owned  facilities  or  private  childminders.  Childcare  is  considered 
important  for  securing  the  welfare,  health  and  learning  of  children,  and  their  social  inclusion.  High 
quality standards are set for childcare. It is mostly publicly financed. Parents only pay a fee based on 
their income  and the number of children. Opening  hours can be adapted to local needs.  Denmark is 
one  of  the  countries  with  the  highest  spending  on  childcare  in  terms  of  GDP,  which  is  a  deliberate 
choice in order to give all children an equal chance in life as early as possible.  

Belgium has a similar system of nurseries, alongside private childminders for children in the youngest 
age group (0 to 2.5), and kindergarten, from 2.5 years until the mandatory school-going age. For the 
younger age group, in terms of affordability, fees are tax deductible and often income-related and,are 
capped at a certain amount for children under 2.5 attending childcare. Access to kindergarten, usually 
based  on  the  premises  of  primary  schools,  is  free  of  charge  during  school  hours.  However,  outside 
these hours, childcare might be an issue for working parents. There is a system in place for monitoring 
the  quality  of  all  formal  childcare  services,  which  is  quite  extensive  and  monitors  both  public  and 
private  services.  Preferential  access  to  childcare  facilities  can  be  given  to  certain  disadvantaged 
groups, for instance jobseekers in the Brussels region.  

Childcare in the European Semester and EU funding 

In  the  context  of  the  European  Semester,  childcare  is  considered  a  major  factor  enabling    the 
employment  of  women.  Recommendations  are  given  to  Member  States  where  the  lack  of  childcare 
constitutes an obstacle to female labour market participation.  

In 2017, the lack of affordable and high quality childcare was reported in 12 country reports and six 
Member States received a country-specific recommendation on the subject or on female labour market 

14 

Public spending for 3-mandatory school ageSweden1.61.10.5Denmark (d)1.4France1.30.60.7Bulgaria (c)1.20.11.1Finland1.10.60.5Belgium0.80.10.7Luxembourg (d)0.8United Kingdom0.80.10.7Lithuania (c)0.70.10.6EU average (e)0.7Netherlands0.70.30.4Romania (c)0.60.30.3Hungary0.60.10.5Germany0.60.20.4Italy0.50.10.4Slovenia (d)0.5Spain0.50.10.4Ireland (d)0.5Austria (d)0.5Slovak Republic0.50.10.4Malta (c)0.50.00.5Poland (d)0.5Czech Republic (d)0.5Cyprus (c,g,h)0.40.00.4Estonia (d)0.4Portugal (d)0.4Latvia (b)0.1Croatia (b,d)0.2GreeceTotalPublic spending on 0-3 
 
 
 
 
 
participation in general.35 In 2018, childcare was mentioned in 17 country reports, in 2 of them, France 
and Belgium, in a positive light, in the others as a cause for concern.36  

Member  States  have  the  possibility  to  prioritise  funding  for  childcare  using  the  European  Structural 
and  Investment  Funds  (ESI  Funds),  such  as  the  European  Social  Fund  and  the  European  Regional 
Development Fund, as well as the European Agricultural Fund for Regional Development (EAFRD). 
Approximately  EUR  1.2  billion  from  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  (ERDF)  were 
allocated  to  early  childhood  education  and  care  infrastructure  in  the  period  2014-2020  to  tackling 
national or regional capacity problems as well as to ensuring the quality of buildings and equipment 
for  early  childhood  education  and  care  services.  The  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  promotes  equal 
access  to  high  quality  early-childhood  education  and  care.37  These  investments  have  been  effective 
both in creating  jobs for women as well as in facilitating  mothers with children's re-ingration  in the 
labour  market  and  improving  parents’  work-life  balance,  as  shown  by  examples  of  ESF  projects  in 
Estonia  (where  1 200  childcare  places  will  be  created)  and  in  the  Czech  Republic  (where  20 000 
childcare places will be created). The Czech Republic has redirected funding in response to a country-
specific  recommendation  on  the  matter,  so  far  creating  9 000  nursery  and  kindergarten  places.  The 
observed continued rise in the demand for childcare facilities indicates that this measure has a strong 
impact on the labour market (re)integration of parents with small children. Also, through the European 
Agricultural  Fund  for  Regional  Development  (EAFRD),  in  the  context  of  the  LEADER  initiative, 
financial support can be allocated for the provision of childcare facilities in rural areas as part of the 
local development strategy.  

In  addition,  the  European  Funds  for  Strategic  Investment  (EFSI)  are  available  for  funding  of  ECEC 
projects (both private and public investments).  However, no specific requests have been  received  so 
far for projects on ECEC in particular.  

5.2 Family work patterns and family models 

Across  the  European  Union,  there  are  different  models  of  female  labour  market  participation, 
reflecting  different  family  models  and  different  practices  of  child  rearing.  Family  models  play  an 
important  role  in  the  extent  of  female  labour  market  participation.  Even  though  the  traditional  male 
breadwinner  model  has  been  replaced  in  most  countries  by  either  the  dual  earner  model  or  the 
modified breadwinner model (with one partner working full-time and the other partner working part-
time), the work pattern after childbirth is more varied when it comes to family leaves and the labour 
market participation of mothers after maternity leave. Particularly at this moment in life when women 
are vulnerable when it comes to labour market participation, the availability of high quality childcare 
is an essential part of supporting their employment.  

Besides  childcare,  well-designed  work-life  balance  policies  regarding  leaves  and  flexible  working 
arrangements play an important role in increasing female labour market participation. In this context, 
on 26 April 2017 the Commission presented a proposal for a Directive38 to encourage fathers to take 
up  family  leave,  through  dedicated  and  non-transferable  periods  for  each  parent  combined  with  an 
adequate level of compensation. The shared use of parental leave between women and men has been 

35 2017 Country reports, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2017-european-semester-country-reports_en.  
36 2018 Country reports, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2018-european-semester-country-reports_en. 
37 This is one of the investment priorities under the thematic objective 'Investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and 
life-long learning'. 
38 COM(2017) 252 final, ‘An initiative for Work-life balance for working parents and carers’; available at: 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1311&langId=en. See also Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 
on Work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52017SC0202&from=EN. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
proven to increase female labour market participation. Flexible working arrangements also play a role 
in assisting workers to reconcile their job with demands on their private time.  

5.3 Informal / privately organised childcare  

Informal childcare can either supplement or replace formal childcare. Informal childcare is childcare 
provided  by  other  people  than  the  children's  parents,  generally  by  relatives  such  as  grandparents,  as 
well  as  friends,  neighbours,  unregistered  child-minders,  nannies  and  au  pairs.  It  may  also  include 
privately organised care provided by a professional childminder hired directly by the parents, often in 
the child's home and not registered or monitored by the authorities. According to Eurostat39, informal 
care was provided to 30.2 % of children (under the age of 3) and 28.7 % of children between 3 and the 
mandatory school-going age in 2016. The use of informal and private care is  high, but is it typically 
used on a part-time basis, which would indicate that most of it is supplemental. Use of informal care is 
highest in the Netherlands (around 60 % for children in both age groups), but virtually all of it is on a 
part-time  basis,  followed  by  Romania,  Greece,  Slovenia,  Slovakia,  Poland,  Cyprus  and  Portugal, 
where more than 40 % of children received informal or private care. In most of these countries, it is a 
mix of full-time and part-time care for the smaller age group, except for Cyprus, where more than half 
of  the  informal  and  private  care  given  to  children  under  the  3  is  given  on  a  full-time  basis.  For  the 
children  in  the  older  age  group  it  is  primarily  done  on  a  part-time  basis.  In  the  Nordic  countries, 
informal care is hardly used at all.  

Even if parents may not feel a great need to use public childcare when sufficient informal and private 
care possibilities exist, the above data suggest that they are compensating the lack of public provision 
with informal and private care arrangements and that there may in fact be a demand for more formal 
childcare40. 

5.4 Legal framework for the provision of care 

One  way  to  ensure  adequate  provision  of  accessible  and  affordable  high  quality  childcare  is  by 
establishing a legal entitlement to childcare.  In most countries, there is a legal entitlement to childcare 
from  a  particular  age  of  the  child.   However,  the  age  from  which  this  entitlement  exists  differs  to  a 
great  extent  across  Europe.  The  time  lag  between  the  end  of  family  leave41  and  the  entitlement  to 
childcare, sometimes referred to as 'care gap', is usually a problem42.   

There is a right to childcare from a very early age in Malta (as of 3 months; care is free for working 
parents and students), Denmark and Hungary (as of 6 months), Germany (but with a limited number of 
hours for parents not working full-time), Sweden and Slovenia (as of 12 months) and Estonia (as of 18 
months). One could classify this childcare provision as a comprehensive entitlement from an early age. 

In the second group of countries, the right to childcare starts at a later age, when the child would start 
pre-school. In practical terms, that means from the age of 2 ½ years in Belgium, and 3 years in Finland 
(part-time  unless  parents  work  full-time),  France,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg  (part-time),  Spain, 

39 The Eurostat (2016) EU-SILC survey variable 'Other types of care' refer to the direct arrangements between the carer and the parents 
(parents are often employers, pay directly the carer) and to unpaid care (free or informal arrangements such as exchange of services). Care 
provided by childminders without any structure between the carer and the parents (direct arrangements) have been excluded from the 
definition of 'formal care' in order to take into account only childcare recognised as fulfilling certain quality patterns.  
40 Heejung Chung and Bart Meuleman 2017, European Parent's attitudes towards public childcare provision – the role of current provisions, 
interests and ideologies, in: European Societies, 19:1, 49-68, DOI:  
10.1080/14616696.2016.1235218. 
41 The reference to family leave includes maternity, paternity and parental leave. Other forms of family leave, such as carers' leave, are not 
included here.  
42 LEAVE network (April 2017), 'Relationship between Leave and ECEC entitlements', available at: 
http://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/Leavenetwork/overviews_2017/Relationship_between_Leave_and_ECEC_-_Final.pdf. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Slovakia, and the UK(part-time, from the age of 2 for children from disadvantaged background) and 
from the age of 4 in the Netherlands.  

In  the  third  group,  children  are  entitled  to  childcare  from  the  age  of  5,  usually  one  year  before  the  
school-going age. This is the case in Austria (only part-time), Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece 
and Portugal. In Poland, the right to childcare (pre-school) starts from the age of 6. One could classify 
this as an entitlement just before mandatory school-going age.  

In  the  fourth  group  of  Member  States  -  Lithuania,  Latvia  and  Romania  -  there  is  no  entitlement  to 
childcare at all..  

Looking  at  the  combination  of  the  above  data  with  the  level  of  compensation  for  family  leaves,  it 
appears  that  only  in  a  small  group  of  Member  Statesthere  is  no  gap  between  the  end  of  well-paid 
family  leave  and  the  entitlement  to  a  childcare  place  (Denmark,  Finland,  Germany,  Malta,  Slovenia 
and Sweden). In another group of Member States, there is  time lag between the more extended family 
leave,  usually  unpaid  or  very  poorly  paid,  and  the  childcare  provided  (the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia, 
France, Hungary and Spain). In the remainder of the Member States, there is a time lag between the 
family leave and the entitlement to childcare.  

However,  a  legal  entitlement  does  not  necessarily  guarantee  a  place  in  a  childcare  facitility.  This 
explains  why  even  in  Member  States  where  a  legal  entitlement  exists,  female  labour  market 
participation may remain low and/or the use of informal and private care may remain high. 

5.4 Employment rate and the provision of care 

There  is  link  between  employment  participaton  and  childcare  rates,  even  if  it  is  not  always  clear  to 
what  extent  this  link  is  to  be  explained  by  a  lack  of  demand  or  supply.  Many  reasons  influence 
whether  children  participate  in  childcare.  However,  there  are  a  number  of  countries  whose  female 
employment  rates  and  childcare  rates  for  children  under  3  are  both  extremely  low,  such  as  Greece, 
Croatia, Romania, Malta and Italy.  

[Figure 9: Employment rate and childcare rates of children from 0 to 3, %] 

Source: LFS 2016 and  EU-SILC 2016 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.6. Availability, cost, accessibility and quality of childcare 

5.6.1 Availability of childcare places 

Various factors influence the use of formal childcare services in different local contexts. The statistics 
provided  by  Eurostat  make  it  possible  to  give  a  first  indication  whether  current  childcare  facilities 
meet demand and to identify what needs to be improved. 

According  to  Eurostat  2016,  the  lack  of  available  places  was  mentionned  as  a  major  reason  for  not 
using childcare in Latvia, Finland, France, Estonia, Greece, Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic. 

[Table 4: Reasons for not using formal childcare services for children under the mandatory 
school-going age] 

Source: EU-SILC ad-hoc module on services 2016 

5.6.2 Cost of childcare  

Overall in the EU-28, the majority of parents pay for childcare from 0 to 3 at full or a reduced price43. 
In some countries this is even the case up to mandatory school-going age, particularly if there is no 
entitlement to childcare.  

According  to  the  Organisation  for  Economic  Cooperation  and  Development,  the  average  cost  for 
childcare is 15% of net family income for OECD countries. The out-of-pocket cost varies from 2.7 % 

43 EU-SILC Survey 2016, available at: https://data.europa.eu/euodp/data/dataset/Zktkst5yjl0Yav1iKET7w. 

18 

GEO/REASONFinancial reasonsDistanceNo places availableOpening hours not suitableQuality not goodOtherEuropean Union (EU28)16.21.53.92.50.77.4Belgium7.90.02.11.10.46.9Bulgaria6.30.32.30.30.31.2Czech Republic6.30.54.61.10.46.5Denmark0.70.40.41.60.22.9Germany 4.90.23.22.51.12.3Estonia20.42.17.40.31.220.7Ireland37.62.11.40.20.15.6Greece23.72.46.83.71.90.1Spain51.81.32.13.90.228.4France13.62.08.75.30.68.5Croatia4.40.01.70.00.01.6Italy22.84.43.44.21.914.9Cyprus39.92.40.70.82.01.1Latvia24.85.415.62.92.99.0Lithuania29.69.02.30.90.412.6Luxembourg9.11.74.71.70.94.3Hungary18.71.41.72.00.77.1Malta10.60.43.52.20.736.6Netherlands18.50.00.71.60.59.2Austria11.70.53.91.11.16.1Poland4.64.24.72.51.19.1Portugal14.21.82.51.90.43.4Romania30.96.72.60.30.07.8Slovenia7.71.84.71.30.36.8Slovakia29.56.23.73.41.314.8Finland6.62.18.64.30.28.8Sweden0.70.31.21.80.16.8United Kingdom25.90.62.61.30.45.7 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
in  Austria  to  33.7%  in  the  UK  for  an  average  dual-earner  family  and  from  2.9%  in  Denmark  and 
41.6% in Ireland for a single parent44.  

The social gradient plays in role in the chances of a child under 3 to participate in formal childcare, as 
shown by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development45.  In France and Ireland, this 
inequality is particularly pronounced as participation rates for children in low-income families are, at 
18% and 12% respectively, less than a quarter of those for children from high-income families (81% 
and 57%).  

High  costs  act  as  a  barrier  to  the  use  of  childcare  and  effectively  discourage  parents,  particularly 
mothers,  from  working.    This  was  most  recently  confirmed  by  the  Eurostat  data  for  2016  (table  4 
above),  which  show  that  the  cost  factor  plays  a  significant  role  in  the  decision  not  to  use  formal 
childcare  facilities  in  many  countries,  in  particular  Estonia,  Ireland,  Greece,  Spain,  Italy,  Cyprus, 
Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and the UK.  

It appears that across the EU 4 % of parents have great difficulty affording formal childcare. This is 
mostly  the  case  in  Hungary,  Cyprus,  Romania,  and  Greece,  where  the  overwhelming  majority  has 
difficulties  in  affording  it  with  20 %  or  more  of  parents  having  great  difficulty.    In  the  EU,  8 %  of 
parents have moderate difficulty and 19 % have some difficulty in affording the costs for childcare.  

[Table 5: Level of difficulty affording formal childcare services for children under the 
mandatory school-going age, %] 

Source: EU-SILC ad-hoc module on services 2016 

OECD (2016), Society at a glance, OECD social indicators.  

44 
45 OECD (2016), Who uses childcare? Background brief on inequalities in the use of formal early childhood education and care among 
young children. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
The Member States take different approaches to tackling the costs of childcare. Some Member States 
provide  minimum  levels  of  free  childcare,  either  for  both  age  groups  (e.g.  Malta)  or  for  the  group 
from 3 to the mandatory school-going age (e.g. Germany, the UK). Since 2017, Malta provides free 
childcare for children whose parents work or are in education. The government settles the costs at the 
end of each month. Parents are allowed to send their children to a childcare centre of their choice, and 
benefit  from  free  childcare  ‘equivalent  to  the  hours  worked  by  the  parent  with  the  lower  workload, 
plus one hour extra for commuting’. This measure aims to create an incentive for mothers to return to 
work  or  to  remain  in  formal  employment.  Recent  employment  statistics  already  indicate  that  the 
provision  of  free  childcare  increases  the  labour  market  participation  of  mothers.  There  are  plans  to 
extend the access to childcare  to all families.  

In Ireland, where cost was identified as a major barrier, a new scheme was introduced in 2010, the so-
called  early  childhood  care  and  education  scheme  (ECCE),  providing  limited  free  places  on  a  part-
time  basis  (15  hours  in  total,  that  is  5  times  3  hours  a  week)  within  private  childcare  centres  for 
children from the age of 3 years and 2 months. In 2016, the offer was extended to children from the 
age of 2 years and 8 months. Parents using this scheme could top up the number of hours by paying 
extra.  While  this  development  is  a  step  forward,  it  is  not  possible  for  all  families  to  cover  the 
additional costs and this particularly limits the possibilities of low-income families to use the scheme.  

Subsidies for new parents (e.g. in Belgium, Netherlands, the UK), and tax breaks for families (e.g. 
in  Belgium,  the  Czech  Republic,  Germany,  France,  Netherlands)  are  additional  measures  to  address 
the costs of childcare. In  Germany, the fees vary according to the provider, but are income related. 
Lower-income families can apply for a reduction and can be entitled to free childcare. All families can 
avail  of  tax  allowances,  in  the  form  of  a  tax  reduction  or  exemption  for  a  certain  amount  of  the 
childcare costs. 

In, for instance, Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia, a combined approach 
of a means-tested childcare fee system ensures that low income families have to pay very little for 
the  use  of  childcare,  while  the  cost  is  also  'capped'  for  all  other  families.  In  several  EU  Member 
States,  private  childcare  infrastructure  is  also  publicly  subsidised.  In  Sweden,  for  instance,  the 
Education Act stipulates that fees for childcare should be 'reasonable'. Every child from the age of 3 
has  the  right  to  525  hours  of  childcare  free  of  charge.  All  municipalities  also  apply  a  system  of 
maximum fees, with a cap for each family. The childcare facilities are entitled to a government grant 
to compensate for the loss of income and to ensure high quality care services.  

Another set of measures focuses on the specific needs of children from low income households or big 
families, such as free or discounted meals in nurseries and kindergartens, for instance in Hungary, or 
funding for healthy meals for impoverished children in Belgium. 

A  few  Member  States,  such  as  the  Czech  republic,  Germany,  France,  Portugal,  Slovakia,  have 
developed targeted programmes to help socially disadvantaged groups to access childcare services. In 
Slovakia,  measures  have  focused  on  children  from  low  income  families,  who  are  exempted  from 
paying,  and  childcare  facilities  work  with  community  centres  to  develop  specific  outreach 
programmes for marginalised communities.  

In other Member States, such as in Belgium, Finland, Sweden and Denmark,the focus is on universal 
access.  In  Finland,  for  instance,  there  is  the  universality  principle  for  subsidised  services,  whereby 
municipalities must provide a place for all pre-school children, regardless of whether parents work or 
not.  These  services  should  also  accommodate  atypical  working  patterns  of  parents.  A    project  co-
financed by the European Social Fund focuses on childcare services for children whose parents work 
night shifts.  

20 

 
 
 
 
 
The  2013  Commission  Recommendation  on  ‘Investing  in  children:  breaking  the  cycle  of 
disadvantage’  demonstrates  that  providing  affordable  high  quality  childcare  services  may  be 
considered  as  a  good  example  of  a  win-win  social  investment  strategy,  because  it  boosts  children’s 
development  while enabling  parents to  do paid work. In  most cases, the extra  tax  revenue (over the 
course  of  life)  generated  by  the  increased  participation  of  parents  in  the  labour  market  is  enough  to 
cover the cost of the childcare. If affordable high quality childcare is not available, the costs of formal 
care for two children can, in some countries, amount to more than one fifth of the disposable income 
of  a  low-income  couple.  In  April  2017,  as  part  of  the  Social  Pillar  Package,  the  Commission46 
reiterated the importance of continuing to work to this issue.  

Local  initiatives  are  sometimes  set  up  for  the  benefit  of  specific  socially  disadvantaged  groups.  A 
series  of  cities  have  adopted  a  strategy  to  address  their  particular  needs.  The  NGO  Eurocities  has 
collected good practice examples which can be used as inspiration. One of these examples is Nantes, a 
city  in  France,  which  has  embraced  a  concept  of  the  provision  of  integrated  childcare  services, 
particularly to break the cycle of disadvantage. Multi-purpose childcare services are set up in poorer 
areas of the city, which offer a series of childcare services. Next to regular or flexible childcare there is 
also 'emergency' childcare available for parents who have to attend a job interview, for example,.  

Some  Member  States  introduced  also  fiscal  incentives  for  companies  linked  to  the  provision  of 
chilcare services for their employees. Austria allows a deduction from taxable income for companies 
when  they  either  provide  childcare  services  internally  or  give  benefits  to  employees  in  the  form  of 
childcare services47; France, Germany and Poland have a similar approach. Italy recently introduced 
changes  to  the  taxation  of  productivity  bonuses  in  2017  which  can  now  be  erogated  in  the  form  of 
welfare measures by companies to their employees48. In France and UK, employers can provide their 
employees respectively with 'universal  service vouchers' (CESU) and childcare vouchers, which can 
be  used  as  payment  for  homebased  childcare49.  In  Finland,  other  incentives  for  compensating  the 
costs  for  employers  linked  to  work-life  balance  are  based  on  the  insurance-based  social  security 
system;  in  addition,  if  an  employer  organizes  temporary  childcare  for  an  employee’s  sick  child,  the 
benefit the employee gets is not considered as a taxable income (maximum period of tax-free childcare 
benefit is four days per sickness). 

5.6.3 Accessibility of childcare 

Access  to  childcare  is  not  only  determined  by  the  existence  of  formal  structures,  but  also  by  the 
specific  features  of  the  services,  such  as  opening  hours,  location,  and  languages  spoken,  as  well  as 
access to transport. Table 4 indicates that distance to the childcare facility and the opening hours are 
less  significant  than  the  cost  and  the  availability  of  places  as  reasons  for  not  using  formal  childcare 
services. While 15 countries are above the EU average of 1.5 % regarding the distance to the childcare 
facility, Lithuania (9 %), Romania (6.7 %) and Slovakia (6.2 %) have the highest rates. In Portugal, 
European  Structural  Investment  Funds  have  been  quite  instrumental  in  extending  better  childcare 
infrastructure over the last 15 years to rural areas, with the result, however, as in many countries, that 
there are shortages in urban areas.  

46 Commission Staff Working. Document on 'Taking stock of the 2013 Recommendation on Investing in Children: Breaking the Cycle of 
Disadvantage', SWD (2017) 258 final. 
47 Benefits to employees up to € 1.000 per child and year for child care are free of taxes and social security contributions. 
48 In this case there is a cap to the amount of the investment eligible (as it is linked to the productivity bonus). 
49 In the United Kingdom, the Childcare Voucher scheme provides an opportunity for an employer to offer childcare vouchers (including 
vouchers in return for a reduction in employee's pay – known as a 'salary sacrifice'). This may affect the amount of tax credits an employee 
can receive. 

21 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Also the opening hours of the childcare facilities do not fully meet childcare needs. While 7 countries 
are above the EU average of 2.5 %, the rates are particularly high for France (5.3 %), Finland (4.3 %), 
Italy (4.2 %) and Spain (3.9 %).  

Eurofound's "Early Childhood Care: Accessibility and Quality of Services report"50 shows that various 
initiatives  can  help  to  integrate  children  with  special  needs  into  childcare  facilities.  The  quality  of 
childcare  depends  as  much  on  political  recognition  and  the  sustainable  and  sufficient  funding  of 
inclusive measures such as the ownership and commitment of the educators and their willingness as 
well  as  administrative  support  to  continuously  follow  training  on  inclusive  methods.  Inclusive 
teaching and an inclusive environment also rely on the communication and cooperation between local 
authorities and childcare facilities as well as educators and parents. In addition to national funding, the 
ESF  provides  financial  support  for  inclusive  projects  at  childcare  facilities.  In  Poland,  an  ESF  co-
funded project 'toddler' was made available to develop formal childcare for children under the age of 
3. The project takes specific needs of disabled children into account.  

5.6.4 Measures to increase quality 

Lack of quality of childcare services may be a barrier for parents and have a negative impact on the 
use of those services. The quality of the services depends on the number of children in the facilities, 
the  level  of  professionalism  of  the  teachers  and  the  teaching  programme,  as  well  as  the  quality 
standards  of  the  premises,  such  as  the  physical  environment  and  hygiene.  A  well-developed  quality 
framework  could  include  measures  such  as  the  use  of  a  registration  and  inspection  system  for  all 
registered  providers  of  childcare  services,  measures  to  enhance  the  professionalisation  and  life-long 
learning of staff, measures to make it more attractive to work in the childcare sector, for instance by 
providing good working conditions. 

In  May  2018,  in  its  proposal  for  a  Council  Recommendation  on  High  Quality  Early  Childhood 
Education  and  Care,,  the  Commission  presented  a  comprehensive  quality  framework  for  early 
childhood education and care (ECEC) systems51 based on five principles: access and affordability for 
all  families;  qualification  and  continuous  development  of  the  workforce;  development  of  the 
curriculum with holistic teaching values in a participatory way with children and parents; monitoring 
and evaluation of the early childhood education and care services and facilities; and governance and 
funding.  This  framework  was  developed  with  the  assistance  of  education  experts  from  a  series  of 
Member  States.  The  aim  of  the  quality  framework  is  to  strengthen  childcare  and  pre-school  care 
facilities  in  order  to  ensure  high  quality  education  and  care  services  for  children,  as  well  as  the 
inclusion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds and of children with special needs. It also aims 
to increase the trust in childcare facilities, in order to guarantee women  real opportunities to join or 
remain in the labour market when they have  children.  

6. Conclusions: Reaching the Barcelona targets - a corner stone for women's labour 
market participation and a better work life balance of working parents  

The Barcelona objectives, adopted by the European Council in 2002, are still of crucial importance in 
2018.  Employment  targets  have  not  yet  been  achieved  for  women  and  considerable  gaps  in 
employment rates remain between women and men.  Ample evidence shows that this is mainly due to 
care responsibilities. The Barcelona objectives remain highly relevant to promote gender equality and 
form an important part of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, inclusive and sustainable growth with a 

50 Eurofound (2015), Early Childhood Care: Accessibility and Quality of Services, available at: 
https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2015/social-policies/early-childhood-care-accessibility-and-quality-of-services. 
51 A proposal for a Council Recommendation on High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Systems and the accompanying 
staff working document.  

22 

 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
view to enhancing female labour participation. Childcare is a crucial element for work-life balance of 
working  parents  under  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights.  Indicators  on  childcare  rates  are 
monitored in the European Semester and included in  the social scoreboard. Where relevant, funding 
from the European Structural and Investment Funds is geared to address shortcomings in the Member 
States.  

The  Barcelona  target  has  been  generally  reached  for  children  under  the  age  of  3  for  the  EU-28,  as  
32.9 % of the children under the age of 3 participate in childcare. However, this overall average hides 
important  differences  between  Member  States.  While  considerable  progress  has  been  made  in 
countries like Malta, Romania, Estonia, Italy, Germany and Ireland, the rate of childcare in some of 
the forerunners influences very much the overall result for the EU. Indeed, 4 Member States exceed 
50 %:  Denmark,  the  Netherlands,  Sweden  and  Luxembourg.  On  the  other  end  of  the  scale  are  the 
worrying rates of less than 10 % in Greece, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia.  

The  Barcelona  target  has  not  yet  been  reached  for  children  from  3  to  mandatory  school-going  age. 
However, the rate is progressing: it has increased from 83 % in 2011 to 86.3 % for the EU on average. 
A  series  of  Member  States  are  forerunners  and  reach  a  target  of  more  than  95 %,  namely  Belgium, 
Sweden,  Denmark  and  Spain.  Considerable  progress  was  made  in  Romania,  Poland,  Malta, 
Luxembourg, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Latvia and Lithuania. The lowest rates, i.e. less than 
65 %, are found in Poland, Romania, Greece and Croatia which still considerably lag behind.  

Several  factors  influence  the  availability  and  use  of  childcare.  A  first  important  element  is  a  legal 
entitlement to childcare, which exists in most Member States, but the age from which this entitlement 
exists varies very much (starting from the end of maternity leave of the mother, to only at the age of 
2.5  or  3,  or  even  before  reaching  the  mandatory  school-going  age).  The  existence  of  a  legal 
entitlement  however  is  not  necessarily  a  full  guarantee  that  Member  States  provide  formal  care 
services.  

Besides  a  legal  entitlement,  the  availability,  affordability  and  high  quality  of  childcare  services 
influence  very  much  the  uptake  of  childcare  services  by  parents.  Costs  vary widely  among  Member 
States and may be prohibitive in some Member States, such as Ireland. Prohibitive costs do not only 
affect female labour market participation, but also disproportionally affect children from low income 
families.  Also  the  adaptability  of  the  services  to  the  needs  of  parents,  including  distance  to  the 
childcare facilities and opening hours adapted to working patterns and needs, play an important role.  

High quality care must furthermore include pedagogical goals and values and the professionalism and 
continous  development  of  the  childcare  staff.  Monitoring  and    assessment  of  these  elements  are 
crucial; these elements are addressed in the Commission's proposal for a Council Recommendation on 
High Quality Early Childhood Education and Care Systems. . 

The Commission will continue its monitoring of the situation with regard to childcare in the European 
Semester, particularly for those Member States lagging behind. It will continue to identify the specific 
problems with regard to availability, affordability and high quality care in each of the Member States. 
It will further continue to promote the use of European funding to assist Member States to tackle some 
of the challenges.  

In addition, now that the first of the Barcelona targets has been generally reached and good progress is 
being made on the second target and that the Education Target 2020 has generally been reached, time 
may have come to consider a review of these targets following consultation with Member States. Such 
a review, if undertaken, would contribute to the European Union's efforts to foster smart, inclusive and 
sustainable  growth;  in  particular  it  would  contribute  to  reaching  the  Europe  2020  target  of  a  75 % 
employment rate and the creation of competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy based on a 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
high  level  of  national  education  and  training.  This  requires  addressing  the  employment  impact  of 
parenthood on women, the need for work-life balance for working parents, strengthening the existing 
childcare facilities and increasing the availability of affordable and high quality services overall.  

24