Children in France

In France, public childcare begins at a young age with crèches, care centers for infants and toddlers. Crèches are partially funded by the government, but because the cost of caring for one child is $36 per day, families have to pay fees according to their income. For one year of tuition, a lower-class family pays about $390, a middle-class family pays about $3,200, and an upper-class family pays about $5,300. Around 20 percent of children who are under three whose mother’s work attend crèches. Crèches are open from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. Many precautions are taken to make sure that the schools are safe for the children. For example, all the edges of the doors are lined with hollow rubber tubing to make sure children’s hands do not get slammed in them. There are several different types of crèches, each varying in cost and size.

The most popular type of infant care is the crèche collective. This center cares for children from two months to three years old. Each center holds about 40 to 60 children, and the staff includes one caregiver for every five infants and one for every eight toddlers. The staff also includes nurses, aids, and people to help with the cleaning and cooking. The director of a crèche collective is called a puéricultrice. The puéricultrice must receive training as a nurse and have five years of childcare experience. In addition to a puéricultrice there is anéducatrice de jeunes enfants, someone with a baccalaureate degree from a lycée and special training in childcare. The responsibilities of the éducatries include monitoring the children's activities and their well being, ensuring that the provided activities are helpful to their development, finding activities that support their autonomous development and familiarizing the children with their world.

Crèches familiales are similar to crèche collectives, but instead of being run by teachers in centers, they are run by childcare providers, who host the children in their homes. This is less expensive for the government and the children receive more one on one attention. In France there are approximately 30,000 crèches familiales and each one has about 15 licensed childcare providers who care for up to three children. They are paid double minimum wage and are obligated to take medical and psychological tests, which are given by a puéricultrice. The puéricultrice visits each house to make sure that it is sanitary and safe and helps to train the providers in skills such as cooking, cleaning and handling medical emergencies. The cost for sending a child to a crèche familiale is about the same as a crèche collective because the government supplies the fees for all the services. This type of care provides children with more individualized care in a familiar home and sanitary setting.

Crèches parentales are another type of full-time infant care, which are equivalent to American cooperative day care centers. Mini-crèches are a smaller version of the crèches collectives, located in an apartment or some other establishment.

References:

Bergmann, Barbara R. 1996. "Saving Our Children from Poverty: What the United States Can Learn from France". New York: Russell Sage.

Greenhouse, Steven. 1993. "If the French Can Do It, Why Can't We?" The New York Times Magazine, November 14, pp.58.

Lawson, Carol. 1989. "How France is Providing Childcare to a Nation." New York Times Magazine, November 9, pp. A7, C14.