Denmark is one of the best countries for working families.

[pampango]

US and UK take note. Denmark's universal nursery care is worth emulating, as is the Danish cultural norm of giving kids a lot of responsibilities.

Every child, for example, is guaranteed an affordable nursery place from the age of one to when school starts at six. Parents and caretakers are generally permitted 52 weeks paid leave after the birth or adoption between them, and this can be taken flexibly. ... Over and above this, working hours are less on average than elsewhere in Europe, you get five weeks' statutory holiday and are safe in the knowledge that you can have a day off to look after your children if one of them is sick. All these rules – and others – make Denmark a place where families can theoretically win the battle between work and life.

Beyond the legal rules, there is a culture that makes it possible for such a system to function. On the whole, society finds it acceptable that pre-school children are looked after by a professional – some of whom have completed a three-and-a-half-year degree – rather than a parent. The job of a "stay-at-home-mom" is, in some sense, taken over by the state.

More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that everyone seems to accept that children should be given as much freedom and responsibility as possible. An often cited Danish phenomenon is the daily excursion where children walk to play parks or museums two-by-two, or holding on to a pushchair which contains the youngest of the bunch. There are numerous other examples that illustrate the emphasis of autonomy and taking responsibility that are less well known and are less likely to live up to American ideals of proper child supervision.

Take the use of open fires used to toast "snobrød" and candles to create a cosy atmosphere. In one case, there was no fence or hedge in a yard to keep the children from wandering off – "one child who wandered off luckily chose to go towards the woods and not the motorway!" All these things can of course still be beneficial to children in their development, but might not sit comfortably in cultures which all too often see such freedom as risk.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/03/denmark-universal-nursery-care-working-families

Interesting look at Denmark's 'welfare state', its generous family leave policies and how its day care sector is structured and its philosophy. So different from the US in many ways.

[countryjake]

1. Interesting...

Free-play. Kind of like how we were raised back in the fifties...

Kick & recommend!