The Governance of Childcare in Transition: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Local governments are important childcare service producers. This chapter delineates their corresponding features across Europe, explores adjustments in childcare governance and discusses its consequences. The EU has, to a certain extent, harmonized child daycare by setting common goals. However, the recent changes in this policy area, arising from the economic crisis, policy-specific motivations, and more generic reforms concerning municipal tasks and obligations, have led to different service reorganization and provision strategies in terms of scaling and re-scaling. The public debt crisis in 2010 has impacted child daycare too, and recent local government reforms have had an impact on the autonomy of municipalities in this sector. With the retrenchment of local government, public coverage of childcare is threatened, while tendencies of up- and trans-scaling are enhanced.