What are my options if I can't find a creche place before going back to work?

Nationally, the number of childcare places roughly matches demand, but free places vary from region to region, so it pays to widen your search. Options the official sources describe:

• Search beyond your own commune. The national directory of childcare services (opens in a new tab) gives contact details for services across the country. Note that some services only take children who live or go to school in their commune.
• Look at mini-crèches, which take up to 11 children at a time.
• Consider a childminder (assistant parental): an approved carer who looks after up to 5 children in their own home and can work day or night. The Agence Dageselteren advises parents looking for one.
• Ask each crèche about its availability and keep in touch. You register directly with each service, and each manager sets its own admission criteria.
• Arrange care at home: a nanny you employ and declare to the CCSS, or an au pair.

Costs: today the 20 free weekly hours for children aged 1 to 4 apply only in crèches and mini-crèches, not with childminders. Once bill 8686 is voted, the CSA reform (planned for 1 January 2027, still in parliamentary committee and open to change) extends them to childminders. It also makes care free for up to 60 hours a week for households earning under twice the social minimum wage, and makes the first 29 or 24 hours a week free for incomes up to three or 3.5 times that wage.

Longer term, the government has announced that by 2030 it wants to guarantee a childcare place for every child who needs one, with targeted state investment.