Crèche closures

Subject: Crèche closures

The latest wave in the COVID-19 pandemic has forced some Member States to put many sectors back in lockdown. In education, schools and crèches have suspended classroom teaching, with children and adolescents now following lessons online. With parents working from home, chaos reigns in many households, as parents are forced to try to get work done while caring for small children. In many countries, particularly those where public facilities are either thin on the ground or non-existent, parents are having to pay childcare facilities up to 60% of their regular monthly bill, even though their children are at home.

In the light of the above:

1. Does the Commission know what support the different Member States are offering parents who are having to take care of their children while schools and crèches are closed?

2. Does the Commission know how crèche fees are covered in the different Member States, and is it prepared to support Member States so that families with small children receive the necessary assistance through, for example, the waiving of the monthly fees for childcare facilities that have closed due to the pandemic?

3. What does it make of the shortage of public childcare facilities?

Answer given by Ms Dalli on behalf of the European Commission

(6 May 2021)

During the pandemic, telework has become the rule for many across the EU. Several Member States have taken special measures (1) for people with young children, such as the reduction of working time (1 Member State), financial allowances/parental leave during school closures (9 Member States), wage compensation schemes (2 Member States), hardship funds for families in vulnerable situations (4 Member States) and an increase/introduction of benefits (3 Member States). Regular meetings with Member States are organised. This is in line with the 2019 Work-Life Balance Directive, which Member States must implement by 2022.

The organisation and funding of early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a national competence. The Commission supports Member States to implement the 2019 Council Recommendation on high quality ECEC systems (2). It published a Toolkit for inclusive ECEC (3), focusing on developing availability, accessibility and affordability. It monitors the impact of the pandemic on the ECEC sector (4). It monitors the participation of children in ECEC under the European Semester cycle, paying attention to affordability. ECEC is key in the proposal for a Council recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee (5) and the EU strategy on the right of the child (6), focusing on children at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

The Commission will propose a revision of the Barcelona targets to foster upward convergence of ECEC provision among Member States in 2022 (7). The Union supports Member States’ investments in care for children and other dependents through funding (8), such as the European Social Fund Plus, European Regional Development Fund, Invest EU programme and Resilience and Recovery Facility.

⋅1∙ Examples of national measures can be found in the Joint Employment Report 2021, as well as Eurofound (2020), Women and labour market equality: Has COVID-19

rolled back recent gains?

⋅2∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CONSIL:ST_9014_2019_INIT&from=EN

⋅3∙ https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/4c526047-6f3c-11eb-aeb5-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-search

⋅4∙ A report on the impact of the pandemic on the ECEC sector will be published in 2021.

⋅5∙ COM(2021) 137 final, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2021:137:FIN

⋅6∙ COM(2021) 142 final, https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12454-Delivering-for-children-an-EU-strategy-on-the-rights-of-the-

child

⋅7∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0152

⋅8∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020DC0152, https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/economy-works-

people/jobs-growth-and-investment/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-action-plan_en, and https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/? uri=CELEX%3A32021R0241