What some might find authoritarian and violative of parental rights, others in other countries might wish for. Can you imagine parents in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the U.S. complaining about having daycare?
But then as you read more, you can see where some might view a law requiring a child to be in mandatory daycare as a precondition of the family receiving welfare to be problematic. The Local.dk reports:
Denmark on Thursday adopted legislation making daycare mandatory for all children over the age of one in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and parents who do not comply will lose their family allowances.
“When some of these children start school, they risk being up to two years behind (their peers),” Social Affairs Minister Mai Mercado told news agency Ritzau.
Disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Denmark tend to have large immigrant populations, with some children not learning Danish. School is mandatory for all children from age six.
The reform — a deal reached by the centre-right government, the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party and the Social Democrats — will bring “only good things”, Mercado said.
Read more on The Local (DK).