Forms of care for children up to the age of three — solutions preferred by parents (empirical research results)
Forms of care for children up to the age of three — solutions preferred by parents (empirical research results)

Summary/Abstract: In Poland there is an ongoing social debate on preferences for various forms of care for children up to the age of three (young children) in government programs. Currently developed — thanks to implementation of the government program “Maluch” and “Maluch Plus” — a system of institutional forms of childcare is considered by conservative circles as overly favored, and the most beneficial — in their opinion — care provided by the mother at home, does not have adequate financial and image support in Polish family policy.In a quantitative representative empirical study conducted in 2017 entitled “Mother, nanny or nursery? Opinions, needs and preferences of parents concerning the various forms of toddlers care”, parents of young children, among others, defined their preferences and expectations regarding forms of care for a child up to the age of three and indicated — on the basis of their own experiences — the necessary forms of support for the care function of the family. The research results demonstrates that the most preferred option is care provided by the child’s parents, but carried out jointly, interchangeably, by both parents. However, as this solution cannot be applied in every family situation, the respondents listed alternative instruments they considered necessary to provide adequate care to children up to the age of three, which included, among the others, developing a network of public nurseries.The paper presents parents’ preferred solutions and expected forms of supporting the care function of families with young children. A clear factor determining these choices and indications is the current situation of the family, and mainly the currently used form of care.

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