A large group of parents and children gathered in Reykjavík City Hall to protest the situation in relation to daycare for young children in city preschools in August and September. They feel that election promises made by the parties prior to the elections in May to provide daycare for all children from 1 year old have been broken. In Reykjavík, 700 young children are waiting to get into daycare centers within the preschools.
In Iceland, parental leave ends after 12 months, and daycare other than preschools is hard to find, resulting in a situation where some parents with young children are not able to return to work after parental leave and are even in danger of losing their jobs if they don’t.
The group has visited the city hall several times since the city council came back from summer holidays on 11th August, the board responded to their request with the “Bridge the Gap” initiative a week later, on the 18th that they have now started to implement after some follow up visits and negotiation with the parent group. This is an excellent demonstration of how democracy can work and how to be an active citizen.
Resources:
Hallgerður Kolbrún E. Jónsdóttir. (18.08.2022). Foreldrar og börn bíða aðgerða í leikskólamálum. Vísir. https://www.visir.is/g/20222299256d/mynda-veisla-for-eldrar-og-born-bida-ad-gerda-i-leik-skola-malum
Erla María Davíðsdóttir. (06.09.2022). Mættu með börnin og kröfðust svara: „Við þurfum festu og hraða“. Fréttablaðið. (https://www.frettabladid.is/frettir/maettu-med-bornin-og-krofdust-svara-vid-thurfum-festu-og-hrada/
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