Financing for equity in pre-primary education
1. Education resources to subnational governments
2. Education resources to institutions
3. Education resources to students and families
4. Social policies and family support programmes
Introduction
Key financing indicators (UIS Data)
In Denmark, the official entrance age to pre-primary education is three years old. According to UIS data, the number of years of free pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks and the number of years of compulsory pre-primary education granted in legal frameworks are one year. Since 2009, Denmark has legally required one year of pre-primary education (grade 0) as both free and compulsory nationwide. The net pre-primary enrolment rate has also risen steadily, from 88.75% in 2000 to 94.74% in 2023.
Governance
Grade 0 (the pre-school class) forms an integral part of the Folkeskole and is governed by the Ministry of Children and Education in collarboration with the municipal councils. They establish the national policy framework and overall learning objectives for the early years of compulsory education. In terms of financing, municipal councils are responsible for both establishing and funding pre-school classes as part of their management of the Folkeskole. This arrangement is defined in Section 20 of the Folkeskole Act, which states that each municipal council “shall be responsible for the establishment of pre-school classes and for the educational provision in the basic school”. Likewise, the operational budgets, teacher salaries, and school resources for Grade 0 are administered by the municipalities.
Early childhood care is governed under the Act on Day-Care Facilities, which assigns overall policy responsibility to the Ministry of Children and Education while granting municipal councils full authority over financing, organization, and supervision. Municipalities determine local budgets, staffing, and quality standards and must guarantee every child from 26 weeks to school entry access to an ECCE place.
Tuition-free status
One year of Grade 0 pre-school education is provided free of charge as part of compulsory education.
1. Education resources to subnational governments
The financing of pre-primary education or Grade 0 is fully decentralised, with municipalities bearing the primary responsibility for both organisation and funding. Local budgets are composed of municipal tax revenues complemented by general block grants from the central government, which are allocated annually through the Finance Act and adjusted under the national equalisation system. This mechanism redistributes resources among municipalities to offset disparities in fiscal capacity, demographic structure, and socioeconomic conditions, ensuring that all local authorities can sustain a comparable level of early childhood education services.
2. Education resources to institutions
There is no universal funding mechanism that includes equity considerations. Municipal primary schools are financed by local governments, which draw on a mix of state block grants and their own revenues. Municipalities exercise considerable flexibility in distributing funds across schools, while allocations are generally tied to student numbers and local priorities. They are required to follow national curricula and policy guidelines rather than centrally determined funding amounts.
Nurseries, kindergartens, and ECEC institutions are mainly funded by municipal subsidies as well, which cover at least 75% of operational expenses (excluding rent and maintenance), with parents contributing up to 25%. Municipalities receive block grants from the state and decide whether payments are based on individual institution budgets or average rates across similar facilities. They are also required to publicly disclose daycare prices.
Different municipalities employ locally designed funding mechanisms that incorporate equity considerations into the allocation of resources for public pre-primary institutions. For example, Copenhagen Municipality uses a socio-economic index that adjusts per-child subsidies based on indicators such as parental income, education level, and single parent, allowing centres hosting disadvantaged groups of children to receive additional grants. Similarly, Aarhus Municipality applies a social weighting model, which allocates supplementary funding to early childhood centres in areas with higher concentrations of vulnerable families, ensuring lower child-staff ratios and enhanced inclusion measures.
3. Education resources to students and families
Grade 0 (the pre-school class) is provided free of charge as part of compulsory education. While younger children attend day-care institutions or nurseries and kindergartens, parental fees may not exceed 25 % of the total childcare cost by law. In addition, municipalities operate income-based subsidies, which fully exempt low-income families from paying childcare fees when their household income falls below a defined threshold.
For children with disabilities or special needs, families may be eligible for a treatment subsidy. Eligibility is determined by the municipality. In cases where a child has a significant and permanent impairment and attends daycare for therapeutic reasons, the subsidy reduces out-of-pocket childcare costs by half.
4. Social policies and family support programmes
The Child and Youth Benefit is a national social welfare programme administered by the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs. It provides quarterly, tax-free cash payments to all parents or legal guardians of children under the age of 18 who are registered as residents in Denmark. The benefit amount varies by the child’s age, with higher payments for younger children, and is income-adjusted for higher-earning households to ensure greater support for low- and middle-income families. Additional benefits may apply for single parents, parents with multiple children or orphans.
This profile was reviewed by Professor Maria Knoth Humlum at the Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, and the Danish Ministry of Children and Education.
The Ministry’s review focused on factual accuracy at the national level; however, the Danish Government does not verify information related to municipal policies or their implementation.
