Many miss the opportunity to cheaper childcare

KindergartenKindergarten.Photo: Pixabay

Lower income families can apply for reduced fees for kindergarten care, but many do not use the service. The deadline is now approaching for new applications.

 

In the spring of 2015, the government introduced a reduced parental pay for families with low household income, and the scheme was added in the national budget for 2018 with a free core time for three-, four- and five-year-olds in low-income families.

You have to apply for the reduction after accepting the daycare facility offered.

Most municipalities have application deadline March 1 to apply for daycare spot.

Not enough information?
Parliament representative and head of the Education and Research Committee, Roy Steffensen says to NTB that many are not taking advantage of the scheme for reduced parental daycare fees.

– “Unfortunately, we noticed that a total of 17,000 families, who could have received a lower kindergarten fees in 2016 did not take advantage of the offer. This is probably due to the fact that too few know of the offer, so I urge the municipalities to inform clearly about this now as the deadline for applying is approaching, and especially when parents receive the childcare facility placement letter,” he says.

7,000 kr spared
The income limit for inclusion in the scheme in 2015 was 473,000 kroner and the maximum parental payment was set at 6 percent of the household income for the first child. This meant that a family who earned 350,000 kroner had a reduction in parental payment of about 7,000 kroner.

“You do not get the reduction automatically, but you have to apply through your municipality, and usually weeks after you have accepted the offer for the daycare spot,” Steffensen emphasizes.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today