Households’ payments in kindergartens, rates of change, 15 January 2009, January

Public kindergarten fees rose from August 2008 to January 2009 by 0.3 per cent. By comparison, households’ payments to kindergartens decreased by 0.5 per cent from January to August in 2008. The monthly fee in public kindergartens has mainly remained unchanged at NOK 2 330. The marginal increase is mainly due to adjustments in boarding expenses and expenditures related to activities, which are paid in addition to the monthly fee.

In public kindergartens, South Eastern Norway had the highest fee increase with 0.7 per cent. Only the regions Agder and Rogaland and Trøndelag reduced their fees.

For the private kindergartens, the fee increase of 0.7 per cent from August 2008 to January 2009 is, as for the public kindergartens, mainly due to higher boarding expenses and expenditures related to activities. The regions Trøndelag and Oslo and Akershus showed the strongest increase in households’ payments.

The ceiling for kindergarten fees for a full-time place is NOK 2 330 per month and NOK 25 630 per year. The ceiling remains unchanged for 2009.

Development in kindergarten fees from January 2007 to January 2009

The Storting agreed to introduce a ceiling for kindergarten fees in 2005. The maximum fee of NOK 2 330 has not been changed since 2007. From January 2007 to January 2009, the overall kindergarten fees increased by 0.9 per cent for the country in total. However, there are still significant differences in the price development for households’ payments in public and private kindergartens. Households’ payments in public kindergartens have decreased by 0.4 per cent while increasing 2.3 per cent for private kindergartens.