In discussions about Estonia's family policy and birth rate, it is often concluded that the childcare system needs greater flexibility so parents of young children have equal opportunities to participate in the workplace.

Kaljulaid is an advocate for this idea.

"Kindergartens could have extended-day groups. In most kindergartens, it is assumed that children will be picked up by 5 p.m. But I think a group where parents could pick up their older children at 8 p.m., even 9 p.m., would be normal. And in fact, there could also be 24-hour groups, so that you could work shifts or go on a shorter business trip," she said.

The former president added that if these opportunities are created, society should not judge mothers who use them.

However, the idea has not been discussed by the Estonian Parents' Union and the Estonian Kindergarten Teachers' Union.

Evelin Sarapuu, chair of the kindergarten teachers' union, said the union believes opening hours should be reduced as many children stay at kindergarten for the maximum possible time.

"A child must have the opportunity to spend time with their parent," she said.

Mari Kummer, head of the Childcare Providers' Union, said the issue is very important because it must be flexible and affordable for families.

"If we have a family where the parents work in the evening, that does not mean the child goes to kindergarten at 8 a.m. They could instead have the opportunity to go, for example, at 3 p.m. and stay until 8 or 9 p.m. There could be more flexibility. Working hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. are a fading work culture, because people have very different working hours and very different from the past. Early childhood education should adapt to that in order to better support families," she said.

Nordic style

Kummer said it is very important that flexibility is not used at the expense of a child's well-being and that a childcare place should be linked to a parent's working hours.

"As in the Nordic countries. A parent must submit their working hours and then they are informed when the child may be in kindergarten, so that a situation does not arise where children who could actually be at home are in kindergarten because their parents are not working. That is one risk. Not that I think parents would start abusing it, but we have to protect children, because they may not want to stay in care until 9 p.m.," she said.

Kaljulaid said extreme examples – such as the Soviet-era Monday-to-Friday 24-hour kindergarten – and flexibility are two different things.

"Other countries do use more flexible approaches, but that is precisely the main problem: as long as we as a society think [a more flexible system] does not suit us, our birth rate is unlikely to increase. For example, when I took my one-year-and-three-month-old son to kindergarten in Luxembourg, I was asked where we had been before. They said it would now be very difficult for him to adapt, and so on. It was completely normal there to go into care at three or four months old. Of course, there the group had three, four, five, maybe six children, but no more."

Lack of interest?

About 10 years ago, the state distributed EU funding to open childcare facilities of various types. Several Estonian municipalities, in cooperation with the private sector, experimented with 24-hour and weekend childcare. Childcare providers who spoke to ERR acknowledged two things.

First, that they had offered night care years ago but can no longer manage it, because it rested on the shoulders of a single teacher. Second, although the possibility exists, it is not used.

In Tartu's Maarjamõisa kindergarten, a 24-hour group was open during the coronavirus pandemic, but the kindergarten's director, Kai Kens, said interest from families was low.

Kummer noted that as the number of children continues to decline, childcare providers are seeking various solutions to survive. For example, hourly care is popular.

"It can be used either on a workday evening or on the weekend. It is a common service that is used quite a lot. That means a caregiver either comes to the child's home and looks after them for a couple of hours, or in some cases it is also possible to go to the childcare facility," she said.

Kaljulaid pointed out that the main concern is that, as a society, we are used to parents – mostly mothers – working while also certainly managing to pick up their child from kindergarten by 5 p.m. at the latest.

"Then we should not be surprised if, at some point, people say they simply cannot cope anymore. Those who do not have small children have a much easier life. I think this is one of the key issues — since we are used to it this way and it is our custom, we will probably have to accept that many choose to have few children or none at all. Of course, there are more reasons for deciding one way or another than just flexible childcare, but those who say they would like children but are afraid to have them because they cannot make it to kindergarten by 4:30 p.m., those are the people we could help," the former president said.

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