Copenhagen’s free daycare debate: Is it about admissions policy?
Why ''free daycare'' is really about Danish daycare admission policy
Former Education Minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil is centering her mayoral campaign in Copenhagen on free daycare. This means raising municipal coverage from 14,000 DKK to 18,000 DKK per month.
The debate is not about costs. It is about Danish daycare admissions policy and its effects on municipalities and families. Here is why.
Copenhagen has over 600,000 residents, with another million non-residents living within a 25-minute commute. The city is attractive to tax paying businesses and working families and it has built high-quality daycare infrastructure. It cannot, however, offer large homes with backyards, two-car garages, or the low-density housing, which is found further out along S-train routes.
These differences lead to different municipal daycare admission policies, which are permitted by law.
✳️ Many bordering municipalities accept applications from non-residents.
✳️ Copenhagen does not.
This creates a clear choice for young families:
1️⃣ Live in Copenhagen and access the city’s convenient, high-quality daycare.
2️⃣ Live outside the city, enjoy more space at home — but lose access to Copenhagen daycare.
Free daycare shifts that choice even more strongly in Copenhagen’s favor.
The red herrings:
❌ Free daycare in Copenhagen is not intended to lower or influence housing prices.
❌ Free daycare is not aimed at reducing inequality. Fees for low-income families are already very low in Copenhagen.
❌ Free daycare will go to young families already living in the city. However, its purpose is to ensure they stay. And, for others to enter.
The policy is costly - easy to do the math. But that is the nature of strong, targeted incentives that are aimed at changing behaviour.
Final thoughts:
Overall, Copenhagen’s free daycare policy represents an investment in attracting and retaining young families so that the city’s education infrastructure continues to be fully used.
It supports residents like me who want our children and other young families to remain in Copenhagen and contribute to the city’s vitality. However, I do worry about the implications of this debate for Denmark.
🇩🇰 At the national level, competition between municipalities to provide better and more affordable daycare is generally positive.
🇩🇰 The political use of daycare admission policy combined with price competition raises important questions about fairness and regional competition that deserve careful attention.
Information sources:
https://lnkd.in/dpVzQRJV
https://lnkd.in/dGQuhsHS?
https://lnkd.in/dvPPmq5W
hashtag#Copenhagen hashtag#DaycarePolicy hashtag#FamilyPolicy hashtag#MunicipalPolicy hashtag#UrbanPlanning hashtag#Childcare hashtag#Denmark