{"id":953,"date":"2016-03-29T18:56:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.coldstreams.com\/?p=953"},"modified":"2021-05-31T16:32:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:32:59","slug":"denmark-has-free-child-care-uh-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/29\/denmark-has-free-child-care-uh-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Denmark has free child care? Uh, no."},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/11745935_1665704370329445_941328983120687525_n.png\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-114\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-114\" src=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/11745935_1665704370329445_941328983120687525_n.png\" alt=\"11745935_1665704370329445_941328983120687525_n\" width=\"330\" height=\"330\" \/><\/a>TL; DR Summary<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Part 1: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/17\/denmark-fairy-tales-is-denmark-the-happiest-country-because-of-this-no\/\">Denmark is the world\u2019s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 2: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/20\/denmark-fairy-tales-denmark-does-not-have-a-20-minimum-wage\/\">Denmark has a $20\/hour minimum wage (No, it does not)<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Part 3: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/22\/denmark-fairy-tales-denmark-does-not-have-a-33-hour-work-week\/\">Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 4: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/27\/is-this-why-denmark-has-free-college-education\/\">Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why<\/a><\/em> &#8211; it&#8217;s not why you think<\/li>\n<li>Part 5: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/29\/denmark-has-free-child-care-uh-no\/\">Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not<\/a><strong> \u2013 <\/strong>this claim is a lie<strong>.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Part 6: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2017\/01\/09\/part-6-paying-for-denmarks-free-health-care\/\">Denmark has Free Healthcare, sort of<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 7: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2018\/07\/02\/part-7-we-should-all-be-like-denmark-remember\/\">We should all be like Denmark, remember?<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 8: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/?p=6870\">Is Denmark a socialist country?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Denmark has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.expatindenmark.com\/livingindenmark\/pages\/schooling-and-child-care.aspx\">subsidized child care<\/a>; Denmark <a href=\"https:\/\/www.howtoliveindenmark.com\/stories-about-life-in-denmark\/raising-kids-in-denmark\/\">does not have free child care<\/a>.<em> After the subsidy, average child care costs are slightly less than the average price in the U.S.<\/em><br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>ACTUAL COSTS OF CHILDCARE IN DENMARK AND THE U.S.<\/h2>\n<p>The subsidy\/payment scheme is explained in &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oecd.org\/education\/school\/2475168.pdf\">Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Denmark<\/a>&#8221; (OECD, pages 52-54): parents generally pay 25%-30% of the costs of day care. Reduced price, yes &#8211; free only to those with extremely low family income.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>How much does Danish child care cost, after subsidy?<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nAfter subsidy, the average cost was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workindenmark.dk\/Moving-to-DK\/Bring-your-family\/Childcare-in-Denmark\">370 Euros in 2013<\/a> through age 3; 213 Euros for age 4 and 5. On Jan 1, 2013, the Euro exchange rate was US$1.32. Thus, <em><strong>AFTER subsidy, the average cost of childcare in Denmark was US$488\/month per child through age 3, and US$284 after age 3 (as of 2013).<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nAccording to this City of Copenhagen web site, child care in Denmark is not free &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/international.kk.dk\/artikel\/what-are-costs-different-day-care-options-copenhagen\">they&#8217;ve published their price list online.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.workindenmark.dk\/Moving-to-DK\/Bring-your-family\/Childcare-in-Denmark\">this Danish web site<\/a>, the current cost averages 520 Euros per month for children through age 3. Snapshot taken on November 11, 2018:<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Capture-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7389 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Capture-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"464\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a>According to the BBC, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-38254474\">in this 2016 report,<\/a> a family with 3 children under the age of 4 was paying $700 per month (there are discounts for each additional child above the first child in day care).<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>How does that compare to the U.S.?<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nAccording to the United States Census, <em><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2013\/cb13-62.html\">the 2013 average price of child care in the U.S. was $572\/month<\/a><\/strong> (all ages)<strong>.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nThe average, of course, means some pay less and some pay more, sometimes much more. In the State of Oregon, in 2014, 75% of child care services were available for less than $550 to $1219 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/DHS\/ASSISTANCE\/CHILD-CARE\/Documents\/2014-Market-Rate-Study.pdf\">Table 9<\/a> &#8211; and Tables 6-8) depending on facility, location and age of the child. In some parts of New York City, per news reports, child care costs US$2000 to US$2500 per month.<\/p>\n<p>Comparing the Danish average ($488\/month\/child &lt;= 3, after subsidy) to the US average ($572\/month\/child, without any subsidy) we see that <em><strong>Denmark has expensive child care (nearly US$2000\/month before subsidies). After the Danish taxpayer covers 75% of the cost, Danes still pay high prices for child care.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-38254474\">Danish taxpayers send, on average, 45% of their annual income<\/a> (that is not a marginal tax rate &#8211; that is 45% of their income) to the government.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nIn both Denmark and the U.S., there may be discounts for additional children beyond the first, from each family.<\/p>\n<h2>BOTTOM LINE<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Child care is not free in Denmark.<\/li>\n<li>Child care in Denmark is subsidized.<\/li>\n<li>After subsidy, Danish child care costs are not far off from U.S. costs.<\/li>\n<li>The claim of free child care is a straight up lie.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>DECLINING POPULATION<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Denmark has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.<\/li>\n<li>Denmark&#8217;s fertility rate is below the replacement rate.<\/li>\n<li>Denmark has an economic and basic survival reason to encourage couples to have more children. One way to do that is by providing free child care and other child support services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/worldnews\/europe\/denmark\/9543847\/Danish-nurseries-offer-free-childcare-so-parents-can-make-more-babies.html\">a direct quote form the Telegraph<\/a> that summarizes the key points:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Demographers fear the declining population could undermine the welfare system.<br \/>\nDenmark\u2019s birth rate is 185th in the world and in 2011, 4,400 fewer Danish children were born than in 2010. For the first three months of 2012, the number declined even further with this year due to be the lowest birth rate in the country since 1988.<\/p>\n<p>Hans Oluf Hansen, former professor of Economics at the University of Copenhagen, said: \u201cOur fertility rate is well under the replacement rate. In the long run, there will be fewer young people to provide for the elderly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to experts, the continued decline in birth rates in Denmark is because fewer families are having a third and fourth child, which would help compensate for those with one or no children.<br \/>\nFor the population to remain at a constant level, experts say that the fertility rate must be slightly above two children per woman, but last year, the fertility rate was 1.76 per woman.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>To encourage more people to have babies, Danish businesses have run <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2014\/03\/28\/do-it-for-denmark_n_5050597.html\">funny ads to encourage procreation<\/a>. More coverage on that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2014\/03\/27\/do-it-for-denmark-campaign\/6969953\/\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/washington.cbslocal.com\/2012\/09\/15\/denmark-offers-free-childcare-to-encourage-parents-to-have-more-babies\/\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Germany has a similar problem &#8211; and this is why they began <a href=\"https:\/\/ideas.repec.org\/p\/ces\/ifowps\/_158.html\">offering free childcare as a way to increase the birth rate.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.globalpost.com\/dispatch\/japan\/090915\/pay-procreate-cash-kids\">Japan has proposed paying families to have more children<\/a>. Japan also has a low birth rate problem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The decline in young people affects the labor supply. Research has shown that when women who have babies have access to child care and long leave policies, they are somewhat more likely to return to work afterwards, helping to keep the labor supply large:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/ftp.iza.org\/dp1050.pdf\">Studies on female labour <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/ftp.iza.org\/dp1050.pdf\">supply<\/a> show that contrary to most other countries where young children have a large negative impact on mothers\u2019 labour supply this effect is much smaller or non-existing in the Nordic countries (see Smith et al., 2003).&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Countries like Denmark and Sweden have generous time off for parents. In Sweden, either parent may take off up to 480 days paid leave during the first 8 years of a child&#8217;s life. How this is paid for will be described in another post but suffice for now to note that in these countries, 50% or more of income is collected in taxes and turned over to the State.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/graphics\/2019-global-fertility-crash\/?utm_source=pocket-newtab\">Government attempts to manage population growth are nothing new<\/a>\u2014<strong>consider the generous paid maternal leave of the Scandinavian countries<\/strong> [because of negative population growth rates] or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/quicktake\/china-s-two-child-policy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">China\u2019s recently rescinded one-child policy<\/a>, each relatively effective in achieving its stated goal\u2014but a new sense of urgency and even desperation is creeping into the search for ways to reverse the current trends.&#8221; [of declining population in half the world&#8217;s countries]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>1 in 4 residents of Denmark live in Copenhagen<\/li>\n<li>Copenhagen is the fifth most expensive city in which to live. Practically requires two incomes which is in conflict with having kids. Hence, Denmark provides many child oriented benefits to encourage having kids.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Update 2018<\/strong><br \/>\nFYI <em>Occupy Democrats<\/em>, the source of the above propaganda poster, is an online, for profit, social media-based fake news business that targets left wing political activists and enthusiasts. During the 2016 campaign season, they published numerous fake items that were widely distributed on social media, many of which have been analyzed on this blog. The claim of &#8220;free childcare&#8221; in Denmark is a lie.<\/p>\n<h2>FUTURE POSTS<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Part 1: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/17\/denmark-fairy-tales-is-denmark-the-happiest-country-because-of-this-no\/\">Denmark is the world\u2019s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 2: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/20\/denmark-fairy-tales-denmark-does-not-have-a-20-minimum-wage\/\">Denmark has a $20\/hour minimum wage (No, it does not)<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Part 3: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/22\/denmark-fairy-tales-denmark-does-not-have-a-33-hour-work-week\/\">Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not)<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 4: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/27\/is-this-why-denmark-has-free-college-education\/\">Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why<\/a><\/em> &#8211; it&#8217;s not why you think)<\/li>\n<li>Part 5: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/29\/denmark-has-free-child-care-uh-no\/\">Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not<\/a><strong> \u2013 <\/strong>this claim is a lie<strong>).<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Part 6: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2017\/01\/09\/part-6-paying-for-denmarks-free-health-care\/\">Denmark has Free Healthcare, sort of<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 7: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2018\/07\/02\/part-7-we-should-all-be-like-denmark-remember\/\">We should all be like Denmark, remember?<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Part 8: <a href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/?p=6870&amp;preview=true\">Is Denmark a socialist country?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Text for Search Indexing<\/h2>\n<p>Why is the Denmark ranked the happiest country in the world by the United Nations?<br \/>\n$20 minimum wage<br \/>\n33 hour work week<br \/>\nFree University<br \/>\nFree Child Care<br \/>\nFree Health Care<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Why is Denmark the happiest country in the world?<br \/>\n$20 minimum wage<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">33-hour work week<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Free university<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Free childcare<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Free healthcare<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Share if America should follow their lead<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Occupy Democrats<\/p>\n<p class=\"text_exposed_show\">Denmark v. USA<br \/>\n$21\/hr. minimum wage\u00a0\u00a0 $7.25\/hr. minimum wage<br \/>\nFree healthcare, childcare, college and job training \u2013 Healthcare, childcare and college are a luxury, can bankrupt you or saddle you with debt<br \/>\nPaid sick and parental leave \u2013 No paid sick\/parental leave<br \/>\nOnly 6.1% of children live in poverty \u2013 23.1% of children are poor, highest rate in rich world<br \/>\nRanked #1 happiest country<br \/>\nRanked #1 country for business<br \/>\nRanked #1 most unequal rich country<br \/>\nShare if Americans can learn from Denmark!<br \/>\nOccupy Democrats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TL; DR Summary Part 1: Denmark is the world\u2019s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true) Part 2: Denmark has a $20\/hour minimum wage (No, it does not). Part 3: Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not) Part 4: Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why &#8211; it&#8217;s not why you think Part 5: Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not \u2013 this claim is a lie. Part 6: Denmark has&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/2016\/03\/29\/denmark-has-free-child-care-uh-no\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1],"tags":[237],"class_list":["post-953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lies","category-uncategorized","tag-occupy-democrats"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coldstreams.com\/social\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}