Mariagerfjord gives up on recruiting childminders

Mariagerfjord Municipality has been unable to recruit enough childminders, forcing parents to drive long distances to take their children to daycare, DR reports. Some children are being referred to neighbouring towns and, in some cases, to Rebild Municipality.

“We have done everything to recruit more childminders, but it is impossible,” said Leif Skaarup, chairman of the Mariagerfjord municipal council’s Children and Families Committee.

The shortage is not new, but the municipality now acknowledges that it cannot solve the problem. “Being a childminder is a lifestyle, and it is simply a lifestyle that fewer people choose,” Skaarup said.

Mariagerfjord has made a special effort for several years to recruit more municipal childminders. However, its latest recruitment drive produced only one new hire.

The municipality has tried to improve working conditions, reduce administrative tasks and provide more professional guidance and community support. “We try to promote the profession, but it has not had much effect,” Skaarup said.

Other municipalities face the same problem. In Jammerbugt Municipality, parents also have to drive long distances to find childcare.

Ulla Flintholm, chairwoman of Jammerbugt’s Children and Families Committee, said the shortage was partly because childminders work alone.

“We do have playgroups and professional communities for our childminders, but you cannot avoid the fact that you are very much alone in everyday life. It is completely different from working, for example, as a childcare assistant in a daycare institution,” she said.

Jammerbugt now plans to create more nursery places. Flintholm said nurseries offered something different from childminding, but that parents should continue to be able to choose the arrangement best suited to their child.

Mariagerfjord faces a particular challenge because it has many small towns, making it difficult to gather enough children to fill a nursery. However, Skaarup said the municipality may have no alternative.

“We would very much like to provide childcare in the towns where parents live. But I cannot see a future in which we can recruit more childminders, so we have to create more nursery places,” he said.