Day-care places becoming more and more expensive

Day-care fees in Norway rose 5 per cent overall from August 1996 to August 1997. Vestlandet (Western Norway) saw the biggest rise in fees, with an increase of 6.2 per cent while Northern Norway had the lowest growth, with 3.7 per cent. The general rate of inflation during the period was 2.3 per cent.

Fees for a day-care place rose an average of 1.9 per cent from January to August this year. Private day-care places increased their fees by 2.4 per cent, while municipal day-care facilities increased theirs 1.7 per cent.

From August last year to August this year, however, the average fees of municipal day-care facilities rose by 5.3 per cent, while the cost of a private day-care place went up by 3.6 per cent.

Compared to private day-care places, higher fee increases for municipal places have also been the trend over the past five years. The cost of a municipal place has risen by nearly 20 per cent from August 1992 to August 1997, about twice the overall increase in the consumer price index in the same period. In comparison, private day-care facilities have increased their fees by barely 15 per cent during this five-year period. Although fee levels are converging, parents with children in municipal day-care facilities still pay less per month than those with children in private daycare.

New Statistics

Day-care and after-school child care fees, August 1997.
The statistics form part of the consumer price index and are published twice a year in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: Randi Johannessen, tel. 21 09 47 30, e-mail: raj@ssb.no or Frode Bendiksen, tel.+47 21 09 44 27, e-mail: fbe@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 38, 1997