This report shows the main results from that survey. The last time the survey was done was in 2016, and included children aged 1 through 5, and the last time the survey was done for children aged 6 through 9 was in 2010. Children participation and time spent in kindergarten and SFO (out of school care), the use of cash-for-care benefits, and the parents’ knowledge and use of different kinds of moderation arrangements are central themes in this report.
BTU-2023 shows a significant increase in kindergarten use and use of SFO among low-income families and in families where the parents are not in the workforce and among children whose parents are born outside of Norway in comparison with previous surveys. These changes could be attributed to among other factors the different moderation arrangements that has been introduced since the last report in 2016. The percentage of children who attend kindergarten is the highest measured so far, and at the same time the use of cash-for-care benefits is low. Almost all children ages 2 through 5 attend kindergarten and the survey shows that the parents also believe that this is the best childcare for their children. They especially care about that their children can be around and play with other children, and it is pretty much only for children under the age of 2 that there is some disagreement about what the best form of childcare is. Even though kindergarten is the most used form of childcare for children ages 1 through 5, there is a difference between planned and actual time spent in kindergarten.
Parents who use cash-for-care benefits and have not applied for kindergarten for their child, point to value-based reasons for choosing this. Many of them believe that it is important that the child spend time with close family and 3 out of 5 parents¹ say they would not apply for kindergarten even if the cash-for-care program was discontinued. At the same time, parents who are born outside of Norway, more often point to economic reasons for choosing the cash-for-care program instead of using kindergarten in comparison to parents born in Norway.
¹ The figure was corrected from "2 out of 5 parents" to "3 out of 5 parents".
There is a lower percentage of children ages 6 to 9 who attend SFO compared to children in kindergarten age who attend kindergarten. There are also bigger differences between socio-economic groups and geographic groups. In 2023, more parents believe that their child can be home alone instead of attending SFO in comparison to the 2010 survey. At the same time, the introduction of 12 hours free SFO per week for first graders has resulted in a greater percentage of first graders attending SFO. The largest increase in children attending SFO is found among children whose mothers are born in countries belonging to Asia, Africa, America except USA and Canada, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, and Europe except EU/EFTA and UK (Africa, Asia etc).
A significant percentage of parents knows about the different moderation agreements surrounding kindergarten and SFO. Low-income families pay the least amount of money for kindergarten and SFO, but at the same time it is among these families that the economic burden is the highest. The cost for childcare is significantly lower for families where the mother or father were born in Africa, Asia etc. The cost of SFO is lower for families that have no income compared to those families with an income.
More mothers of children ages 1 to 9 are outside the workforce compared to fathers. Mothers more often work part-time than fathers with children of this age. The probability of the mother being active in the workforce increases with the degree of education. 81 percent of mothers of children that are one year of age are active in the workforce, whereas the comparable probability for fathers is 95 percent. The percentage of mothers who are active in the workforce is largest among mothers born in Norway, and lowest among mothers born in countries belonging to Africa, Asia etc.