Daycare Shortage In Reykjavík

A shortage of daycare spots in the capital city is putting a strain on parents returning to work, reports RÚV.

Journalist Sólrún Lilja Ragnarsdóttir reports that she has spent the last two months trying to get her five month old child a spot in a daycare before she returns to work in September. Sólrún has contacted 19 daycare centres in the city to no avail.

“Everyone says there are no available spots but that the baby can go on a waiting list and he’s on the waiting list at a few places,” Sólrún said. The rest of the daycare waiting lists were already full.

However, daycare representatives say that being on the waiting list does not guarantee children will get a spot by the time parents need to return to work.

“Mothers or parents are starting to seek out daycare before the babies are even born,” Sólrún said. “Unborn children are on the waiting lists now. I think it could be possible to make this system or at least the application process simpler… so you’re not calling around to [to all these daycares].”