T

HEMATIC

P

UBLIC

R

EPORT

Paris, 28 November 2013

Childcare for the under-3s: an ambitious policy

calling for more focused priorities

The Court and the regional chambers of accounts have prepared a report covering the policy on

childcare for the under-3s. This policy has three main objectives: supporting the birth rate, encouraging

women's employment and promoting equal opportunities through the development of children. For

several years, this policy has helped maintain a higher level of fertility and percentage of working

women in France compared to the majority of European Union countries.

Although the central government is in charge of establishing the general guidelines, this public

policy is nevertheless largely decentralised. It is predominantly funded by Social Security, but is

implemented at the three different levels of local authorities - namely the regions, departments and

communes (though for the latter, this authority remains optional). This review covers the childcare

options available through nurseries, childcare assistants or private nannies, and pre-school.

1)

Childcare options are highly developed, but are subject to significant

geographic and social discrepancies.

As of 1 January 2012, there were 2.4 million children under the age of 3 in France. The percentage

of those receiving childcare services increased from 47.7% in 2006 to 52.2% in 2011, due to the

substantial increase in childcare capacity (by 131,600 spots).

The total cost of this childcare for public finances was estimated at

€13.95

billion in 2011, split

between the Family branch of Social Security (73%), local authorities (17%) and the central

government (10%). Between 2006 and 2011, this cost rose by 19.2% overall (+€2.25

billion), mainly

covered by Social Security (+€1.75 b

illion). For childcare outside the family, without parents taking time

off work or reducing working hours, public expenditures amounted to 28.2% while the number of

approved childcare spots rose by 11.7%. Clearly, this spending needs to be brought under control.

Despite a major financial effort and

development

of

childcare capacities,

there are still significant discrepancies

between geographic areas and families

with modest incomes still find access to

childcare difficult. At the end of 2011,

childcare

capacity

(expressed

as

a

number of spots for 100 children under 3

years of age - sources CNAF) varied by

a ratio of one to three depending on the

department.

In addition to geographic disparities,

there are also social gaps: 64% of the

most affluent households use childcare services, versus 8% of modest-income families. The Court and

the regional chambers of accounts observed that tax mechanisms are, on the whole, more favourable

for higher-income households, which are also able to freely choose their method of childcare - a choice

that is not well adapted.

2)

Insufficient coordination of players

In practice, national oversight of childcare policy is divided between the State and Social Security.

The information system of Social Security's Family branch includes some fifty different national

More than 70%

Between 55% and 70%

Between 40% and 55%

Less than 40%

applications, some of which are old and contain many flaws. Monitoring indicators do not allow for

precise, responsive oversight and make assessment difficult.

From a local standpoint, the fragmentation of authority between the CAF (Family Allocations

Agency), the departments and the communes has undermined the policy's consistency. Inter-

municipalities are highly relevant geographic scopes for the evaluation of needs, which could promote

the streamlining of childcare facilities, however they are rarely given this authority.

Oversight also becomes more difficult due to persistently inadequate knowledge of the available

offer and the needs expressed by families.

Management of childminders does not sufficiently anticipate future developments, and the increase

in degree-holding childminders does not sufficiently account for the rise in the number of childcare

spots opened since 2006. Managers of collective childcare centres are experiencing growing difficulties

when it comes to hiring more qualified staff, which can limit the childcare capacity of these facilities.

3)

Potential areas for improvement

The Court and the regional chambers of accounts believe that financial aid should be provided and

that pricing should better reflect families' level of income, on the one hand, and the cost of childcare for

the local authority, on the other.

The choice of the type of facility and the determination of its capacity, geographic location,

structure and rate of use, are all areas in which efficiency can be improved. Family nurseries and

childcare centres reserved for the under-2s, whose cost per spot is significantly lower than that of a

conventional establishment, should receive more support.

The implementation of a single service needs to be optimised: its contribution to social diversity in

terms of facilities has not been demonstrated and its hourly pricing principles have had the adverse

effect of generating substantial gaps between billed hours and worked hours. These gaps (12.5% on

average) have been on the rise since 2006 and represent an expense for the Family branch, which

ends up paying for working hours during which no service is being provided.

Families need to be better informed, particularly via the website www.mon-enfant.fr, while

transparency in the allocation of nursery spots and management of waiting lists needs to be improved.

The size of waiting lists is all the more surprising considering that the actual occupancy rates of

childcare facilities are often insufficient: at one out of two facilities, the occupancy rate is less than 70%,

while it is estimated that eight out of 10 facilities have a waiting list.

Finally, the specific needs of families, such as childcare for parents working unusual hours,

emergency childcare and childcare for disabled children are not sufficiently taken into account.

The Court has issued 15 recommendations, including:

focus expenditures on priority geographic areas;

remove the ceiling on the national scale of family contributions;

adjust financial aid granted to families in order to better reflect their income and the respective

costs of different childcare methods;

enhance oversight of the State-CNAF agreement on objectives and management;

encourage public institutions for inter-municipality cooperation to establish authority in

childcare for young children, particularly in rural areas;

streamline management of human resources, by adjusting training and analysing qualification

requirements;

develop childcare facilities specifically reserved for children aged two to three, as well as

family nurseries;

improve the website www.mon-enfant.fr and its user-friendliness for families;

increase the transparency of the process for allocating childcare spots by documenting and

publishing admission procedures.

Read the report

Press contact:

Ted MARX - Head of Communication - Tel: +33 (0)1 42 98 55 62-

tmarx@ccomptes.fr

Denis GETTLIFFE - Head of Press Relations - Tel +33 (0)1 42 98 55 77 -

dgettliffe@ccomptes.fr

Follow the Court of Accounts at @Courdescomptes