Parents’ view of quality in early childhood services in Portugal

In Portugal 70% of mothers with children under the age of 6 work full time and there is a great demand for child care and education services, In 1995, a questionnaire was mailed to subscribers to a parent magazine. The questionnaire included a section on the choice of service made by parents, a ranking question on the quality factors that are considered most important, an evaluation of the service they currently use in terms of 34 quality criteria, and scales providing data on their satisfaction (or otherwise). This paper reports on the analysis of 222 questionnaires returned by parents of 3 to 6 year old children