The reception of children under 3 years old remains problematic in France. The creation of a public early childhood service (SPPE), with a general objective (that the needs of parents are covered and quality care provided) has become a key element of family policy. Progress in provision has been particularly sustained: in 2005, only 46% of children could benefit from “formal” childcare (organized outside the family circle); they are almost 60% today. This improvement in the coverage rate can be explained by the efforts made by the public authorities, but also, in the other direction, by the reduction in the number of children aged 0 to 3, linked to low fertility.
The SPPE project, which now gives municipalities the role of organizing authority, involves strengthening and optimizing the organization of the supply, both in quantity and quality. It also involves an announced review of parental leave compensation, which would be reduced over time, but by a higher amount, proportional to previous income. This SPPE project goes as far as creating, in the long term, a form of right enforceable against a mode of custody. Parents would have, as with access to nursery school, a right guaranteed by the community that their child benefit from care.