Child Care and the Labour Market

Child care is an important factor in the Icelandic economy. Unemployment is virtually unknown in Iceland, and women's participation in the labour market is very high. Indeed, a great many job opportunities arise from the need for child care, as there is hardly any parent at home during the week. Is it worth the while? Would it be more profitable for the authorities to pay parents at least part-time to mind their offspring at home, or should the parents just work a little less?  But if you want to know how to take care of children look at the site of my partner.

There was an alarming bit of news in the daily paper Fréttablaðið, dated November 9th, 2006. Some 500 children (under 18) came to the Reykjavík hospital's emergency room last year because of drug abuse, attempted suicide or other types of auto-destructive behavior.  33 of them were under 12 years of age. Could this sad state of affairs reflect some statistical facts concerning children's upbringing in Iceland?

Let's take a look at some figures:

 

Children aged 0 to 5 years in pre-primary institutions 1998-2005
		8  hours
	Total	or longer	%
1998	15,105	6,092	40.3
1999	14,761	6,518	44.2
2000	14,574	7,270	49.9
2001	15,578	8,871	56.9
2002	16,282	10,052	61.7
2003	16,685	10,978	65.8
2004	16,755	11,605	69.3
2005	16,864	11,983	71.1
2006	17,216	12,920	75.0
Source: Statistics Iceland   Back to Economy