A promise to give Copenhagen residents better access to daycare before the council elections in November has been kept according to Mayor Frank Jensen (Socialdemokraterne).
The number of daycare places has not followed the growth in the city's population, leading some parents to postpone returning to work or turn to family for help looking after their children.
But the mayor has announced that from today all of the city's families are guaranteed care for their children, beginning at the age of six months, within four kilometres of their home.
“It’s been really hard work and it’s great news that we can ensure that Copenhagen families have childcare within a reasonable distance of their homes so that their days can fit together,” Jensen told Politiken newspaper. “The goal is that it should not take more than 15 minutes to bicycle from home to the daycare facility.”
The promise was achieved after one billion kroner was invested in building and expanding facilities to cater to an extra 3,900 children.
Some 120 million kroner has been set aside for additional investments if the number of Copenhagen residents under the age of five increases by more than the predicted 2,400 to 46,400 by 2017.
