In this chapter we will look closer at de-familization measures of family policies.
Affordable and locally available and good quality childcare services are one of the most important tools in maintaining contact with employment during maternity and parental leave and the entry of parents into the labour market. The institutional support includes childcare services as kindergarten, nursery schools and other facilities with childcare service, which enable the parents better and earlier re-entry on the labour market.
Different countries have different attitude toward childcare facilities which is mainly influenced by the historical development and the welfare model each country belongs to. The development of institutional care has a long tradition in the Czech Republic and it is, more or less, influenced by post-socialist model and the intertwining of conservative and liberal model (Krebs 2010).
4.4.1 Providing childcare services in the Czech Republic
In order to harmonize family and professional life, it is also necessary to provide affordable and good quality institutions of day care for pre-school children. If parents cannot place their children in day care institutions, returning to work after parental leave
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and harmonizing it with family life, the participation in the labour market might be very difficult for them.
In the Czech Republic there are variable forms of providing pre-school childcare services. Care facilities with good quality education and good access can help to reduce inequalities in education and enable parents to balance family life and work (Kucharova 2009). In most European countries is the attendance of pre-school children between 3 and 6 very high on the contrary the participation of children less than 3 years is in some countries rather low. Countries with longer parental leaves usually stay with their children and don´t send them to the pre-school facilities. For children older than 3 years, pre-school education is also very widespread and for 5-year-old children from the school year 2017/18 it is compulsory (https://oecdedutoday.com). However the attendance of children younger 3 years is very low in the Czech Republic. For instance in 2016 less than 5% of children under 3 years attended an early childhood educational institution, which ranks the Czech Republic very low in comparison with other OECD countries (https://oecdedutoday.com). As already mentioned above Czech Republic is a country with very long parental leaves and therefore it is usual to stay at home for at least 2 years, but more often for 3 years (Kucharova 2009).
The following part explains more in detail different types of an early childhood education in the Czech Republic as well as its historical development and current situation.
4.4.2 Nursering schools
Since 1950 nursery schools have been under the Ministry of Health in the Czech Republic. Since 1960 nursering schools were considered pre-school facilities, but after the fall of communism in 1989 they were excluded from the system of state support facilities and the number of nursery schools has decreased whereas care fees have increased (Hašková 2008). Nursering schools were widespread before 1989 in the Czech Republic and they provided comprehensive and collective care for children aged six months up to three years.
In the post-revolution period, however, they were significantly liquidated and their number was declining for many years. The global closing down of these devices was
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associated with a post-revolutionary return to conservative values supporting certainty.
According to Havelkova (2007) it was the pretext of conservative governments which was to abolish all measures of the previous regime, which was described as totally bad.
The main cause for cancellation of nursering schools was based on the ideology of the ruling conservative right-wing politics, the municipalities tried to save the cost of running nursering schools, and therefore it was worthwhile to cancel them and sell the buildings (Kucharova 2009). Even though nowadays the situation is improving there is still lack in nursery schools which are often situated in big cities rather than in small towns and the number of free places is very limited.
In recent years, there have been a gradual expansion of offered childcare services, for example the establishment of forest nurseries, company nurseries, children´s groups, however, the offer still does not satisfy the demand. However, since 2016, micro crèches have been introduced as a measure to support the reconciliation of family and working life (MPSV 2018). Micro crèches is a public childcare service that offers regular professional childcare from six months to 4 years in a small group of children.
Micro crèches are opened 5 days in a week for eight hours a day (Kucharova 2009).
Nowadays there are 72 micro crèches for which more than 135 Million CZK (5232 558€) has been released from the European Social Fund (MPSV 2018). Not enough places in childcare facilities however possesses difficulties for parents when returning to work from maternity or parental leave, therefore they are forced to stay at home longer with their children. Another reason why parents do not put their children in nursering schools is their relatively high price. The amount paid by parents is higher compared to the kindergarten - usually the tuition fees in nurseries range from CZK 3,000 (120 €) to 15,000 CZK (581,40€) in case of private institutions per month for all-day attendance.
This is for a country with a minimum wage 14 600 CZK (565,90€) (MPSV 2020) rather high and many families cannot afford to pay for it. Until March 2012, nurseries fell under the Ministry of Health as a health care facility, therefore the hygiene rules were very strict. Even though it is now no longer a health institution, the establishment of nursering schools is still obligated to strict hygiene rules and the need of employees with medical education (MPSV 2018). All this represents a great financial burden for the further establishment of nursering schools.
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4.4.3 Kindergarten and other pre-school facilities
Kindergarten is a pre-school facility, which builds on the upbringing of children in family and provides education (Pilik 2017). Kindergartens are according to the law Nr:
561/2004 Sb. set up by the state, regions, municipalities and voluntary unions in the field and they fall under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, which also supports them financially. Because the number of kindergartens as well as the number of nursering schools is still insufficient, the target is also put to motivate private sectors and companies to cooperate in terms of childcare. Children in the age from three to six years are usually accepted to kindergarten (Kucharova 2009). In particular they do not accept children younger than 3 years (MSMT 2015) even though since the beginning of 2020, pre-school education is organized for children aged between 2 and usually 6 years (MSMT 2017). However the places are often limited and therefore children younger 3 years often do not get a free place in kindergarten (Kucharova 2009). In response to this fact many new measures are being introduced in order to raise numbers in pre-school facilities. The following pre-school facilities, in particular the children´s group institute and micro crèches have been provided in order to support institutional care in the Czech Republic.
In addition, since 2014 a new measure, the childrens´group institute, has been established in order to support more places in pre-school institutions. It is a relatively new form of day care for pre-school children, which enables employed parents to reconcile family and professional responsibilities and it also helps parents to return from parental leave to the labour market (MPSV 2015). The institute of a children´s group represents an alternative to kindergartens and nursering schools, whereas it’s easier legislation in comparison to kindergarten allows companies to establish a children´s institute for their employees (Pilik 2017). The service provider may be an employer, a self-governing unit, a non-profit organization, institute, foundation, endowment fund, university, registered at association or legal entity or registered under the Churches and Religious Societies Act (MPSV 2015). With the approval of the Child Group Act in November 2014, the basic parameters of the childcare service were set on a non-commercial basis. This measure makes it possible to keep the parent in contact with her/
his occupation while being on parental leave and gradually returning or entering the labour market. The measure also contributes in reducing the risk of poverty and income
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shortage if the parent is out of work for a longer period (www.rodinyvkrajich.mpsv.cz).
Although, the establishment of these groups is much easier than the establishment of kindergarten or nursering schools, these groups might face a lack of qualified staff. The service consists of providing regular childcare for children from one year of age until the start of compulsory education. The attendance is allowed up to 6 hours a day (MPSV 2015).