The Norwegian Cash-for-Care Reform. Changing behaviour and stable attitudes

In 1998 Norway introduced a cash-for-care scheme. Parent with children aged one or two were offered <br />a cash-for-care benefit if they did not make use of public funded day care centres. The reform was supported by <br />political parties of the centre and right and strongly opposed by parties on the left. Since 1999 ever fewer parents <br />have made use of the opportunity to claim the benefit and have instead sent their children to a day care centre. At- <br />titudes towards the cash-for-care reform, however, have remained very stable up to now. The principle of freedom <br />of choice appears to be strongly rooted among Norwegians. The political agreement on maximum prices made <br />this freedom a reality even for parents who wanted to make use of child care centres