Childcare Report Card, Where Do Rich Countries Stand? Unicef: U.S. Ranked No. 40

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- Unicef- United Nations Children's Fund. 'Where Do Rich Countries Stand on Childcare? A ranking of national childcare policies in wealthy countries.' - Ed. *Download the Full Report (June 2021) at the Link.

Accessible, affordable, and quality childcare helps parents return to work after parental leave, improves children’s social and cognitive development, and promotes a more gender equitable society. Yet, despite its many benefits, UNICEF Innocenti's report reveals that childcare is inaccessible to many parents in the world's richest countries.

Where Do Rich Countries Stand on Childcare? ranks high-income countries based on their national childcare and parental leave policies. The best-performing countries combine affordability with quality of organized childcare while offering long and well-paid leave to both mothers and fathers.

- SEE Chart at the Link. - Leave: paid job-protected leave available to mothers and fathers in full-pay equivalent - Access: Children in formal childcare and education programmes (under 3 and one year before starting school) - Quality: Children-to-teacher ratio and minimal qualifications to become a teacher in formal childcare- Affordability: Cost of childcare for two children (2 earners on average wage and a single parent of low earnings)..

KEY FINDINGS - Luxemburg, Iceland, & Sweden offer the best childcare policies. However, no country is a leader on all 4 fronts, suggesting there is room for improvement, even among the more family-friendly countries. Slovakia, the U.S., & Cyprus occupy the bottom places of the League Table. Weak investments in leave & childcare suggest that childcare is seen more as a private responsibility. Japan, Romania, Estonia, & the Republic of Korea rank highest on leave entitlements. Romania & Estonia have the longest leave available for mothers, while Japan & Korea have the longest leave for fathers. Iceland, Latvia, & New Zealand have the highest quality of childcare, meaning a low children-to-staff ratio with high qualifications of caregivers. Ireland, New Zealand, & Switzerland have the least affordable childcare for the middle class. Two earners of average wage would need to spend up to half of one salary to pay for 2 children in childcare. Countries with high rates of satisfaction with childcare tend to have high enrolment & few parents struggling with childcare cost. The end of paid leave usually does not coincide with the start of entitlements to affordable childcare, leaving many families with young children struggling to fill this gap.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT...

- Read More, https://www.unicef-irc.org/reportcards/where-do-rich-countries-stand-on-childcare.html
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Unicef, wiki, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNICEF