Non-Parental Childcare in France, Norway, and Spain

Families rely on both parental and non-parental involvement when confronting the challenge of caring for children till the age of three. Drawing from the 2016 edition of the EU’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions, this study analyses non-parental childcare options in France, Norway, and Spain, taken as examples of different welfare state models. It addresses the degree to which parents of children under 3 years old in each country resort to non-parental agents (grandparents and other relatives, professional care providers, and pre-school services). The results reveal the existence of significant differences in non-parental care strategies in the three countries analysed, though some convergence towards defamilialisation and the important impact of household income on the types of non-parental care prevalent in France and Spain.