Early childhood education participation rate increases in Helsinki

At the start of the strategic period for 2021–2025, Helsinki set the target of becoming a city where all children can learn and grow comfortably. Measures employed to reach this target include supporting safe and equal learning paths, offering children versatile learning opportunities and places, taking foreign-language families into account and carrying out proactive space and service network planning.

This work has paid off, as the participation rate in early childhood education has increased in Helsinki during the ongoing four-year period. In 2020, 80.4% of all children aged 1–6 living in Helsinki participated in early childhood education provided by the municipality or a private operator. In 2023, this share had increased to 83.5%.

Share of foreign-language children on the rise

Of foreign-language children, i.e. children who do not speak Finnish or Swedish as a mother tongue, 73.6% participated in early childhood education in 2020, whereas in 2023 that same share was 77.7%. The statistics for 2024 are not yet available.

– The rise in the participation rate in early childhood education is the sum of many proactive measures. Centralised service guidance has worked together with immigrant services, the maternity and child health clinic and other multidisciplinary cooperation partners in order to provide families with information on applying for early childhood education at the right time. Service guidance for early childhood education has held events for parents of children who are at home to provide them with support for applying for early childhood education, Head of Early Childhood Education Miia Kemppi from the City of Helsinki says.

Because participation rates among foreign-language children are still lower than among Finnish and Swedish-speaking children, Helsinki will continue its efforts in bridging the gap.

– Kotiva activities arranged in playgrounds(Link leads to external service) have reached parents of recent immigrant families with children and offered them information on early childhood education. As part of these activities, multilingual instructors were hired for playgrounds to help provide guardians with information and support in their own mother tongue, Kemppi continues.

Regional differences in participation

The rise in participation rates can be partly attributed to lowered early childhood education fees on a national level. The Helsinki supplement to the private daycare allowance was also increased during the strategic period.

– Every child has the right to early childhood education; previously it was seen as the right of the parent or guardian, and I think awareness of the child’s right to early childhood education has increased, Kemppi says.

There remain, however, regional differences in the participation rate in early childhood education, which the City is trying to address. The difference between the highest and lowest participation rate in early childhood education at the district level in Helsinki in 2021 was a total of 8.2 percentage points, whereas the same was 10.2 percentage points in 2023. Regional statistics illustrate the participation rate of children aged 3–6.

– We will continue to work on bridging the gaps in participation rates between districts in collaboration with guardians.