Cost of childcare

Monthly rates per 1 January 2023 

Childminder for childen younger than 3 years: DKK 3,573 including lunch

Childminder for children 3 years and older: DKK 2,762, including lunch, from the 1st of the month your child turns 3.

Nursery and kindergarten for children younger than 3*: DKK 3,673 without lunch and DKK 4,331 with lunch included.

Nursery and kindergarten for children 3 years and older*: DKK 2,020 without lunch, and DKK 2,762 including lunch, from the 1st of the month your child turns 3.

After school institution**: DKK 1,800

Special after school institution**: DKK 1,800

After school club**:  DKK 405

Special after school club**: DKK 405

Youth club (UngeVærk): DKK 0

Special youth club**: DKK 77

* Additional fees apply to overnight nursery/kindergarten and weekend childcare

** The month of July is payment-free

Weekend care at childcare institutions: Additional fee per day: Nursery DKK 172, Kindergarten DKK 131.

Overnight care at childcare institutions: Additional fee per month: DKK 391

Overnight rate at childcare institutions: Per night. Is charged in addition to the monthly additional fee for overnight care): DKK 103

Monthly maximum (upper limit on charges for the overnight care additional fee and the overnight rate per night): DKK 976

The rate for kindergarten in all public childcare will change on the 1st day of the month in which your child turns 3 years old.

For children from the age of 6 months until school age. If your child is signed up for childcare and one or both parents are on maternity/paternity leave, you can choose to have your child in care part-time for 30 hours a week.

Monthly rates per 1 January 2023

Part-time care for children younger than 3 years costs DKK 3.780 per month with lunch, and DKK 3,122 per month without lunch.

Part-time care by a public homebased childminder costs DKK 3,037 per month.

Part-time kindergarten for children 3 years or older costs DKK 2,459 per month with lunch, and DKK 1,717 per month without lunch.

The parental payment will be reduced if the combined household income per year is less than DKK 583,700 (before taxes). If you would like an income-based subsidy, you must submit an application. Find out more about the income-based subsidy and to apply (in Danish).

Income limits for the income-based subsidy in 2023

DKK 193,500 or less (before taxes) per year: Childcare is fully subsidized and the cost is covered in full by the municipality.

DKK 193,501 to 601,199 (before taxes) per year: Childcare is partly subsidized.

DKK 601,200 or more (before taxes) per year: Parents must pay for the full costs of childcare.

The income limit is raised by DKK 7,000 for each additional child younger than 18 years living at home. The income limit is raised by DKK 67,719 for single parents.

Rules for the income-based subsidy for childcare, after school care and after school club

The municipality is notified each month by SKAT about any changes in income of you or your partner. If a change in income influences your eligibility for the income-based subsidy, your parental payment will automatically be adjusted for that month.

Recalculation

Your parent’s share of the childcare payment is recalculated each time your income changes by five steps or more on the income-based scale relative to the original income level on which your income-based subsidy was granted. The five steps correspond to a change in income of DKK 1,788 per month.

If you have to pay more, you will receive a letter about the change and you will have opportunity to object before the change takes effect. You will also receive a letter if you have to pay less. 

A few months will pass before the change in your parental payment is adjusted. For example, the subsidy for January will be adjusted in April and the subsidy for February will be adjusted in May. The change in the income-based subsidy will be deducted or added to your next parental payment.

If your income, or the income of your spouse/partner, changes frequently, you may experience that your income-based subsidy and the parental payment changes from month to month. This may apply to, for instance,

• Students with varying income
• People receiving unemployment benefits which change between 4 and 5 weeks’ payments for a month
• Salaried employees with supplementary salary payments, extra work, or special holiday compensation
• Grant-based employment, hourly wage workers and substitute employees with varying income

Going forward, holiday compensation is calculated at the time of taxation rather than at the time of payment.

If your income-based subsidy was cancelled for three consecutive months due to your family’s income going over the income limit for a subsidy, you will have to submit a new application for an income-based subsidy, if relevant.

A new calculation

If your family’s income has changed on a more permanent basis, you can submit a new application online. We will then recalculate your income-based subsidy if the change constitutes at least five steps on the income-based subsidy scale.

Annual adjustment

Your income-based subsidy is subject to an annual adjustment. The adjustment is based on information provided by the income register and annual tax return from SKAT.

The annual adjustment also includes income changes that did not exceed five steps on the income-based scale in the continuous monthly recalculations.

If you and/or your partner are self-employed, no automatic changes in the income-based subsidy will be made during the year, but only at the annual adjustment.

Recipients of a subsidy are obligated to provide information to Forældrebetalingen if changes occur in the composition of the family.

You can read more about the rules for the income-based subsidy in executive order nr. 2058 of 15 November 2021 (dagtilbud) as well as executive order nr. 1926 of 9 December 2020 (fritidshjem og klubtilbud). You will find them at www.retsinformation.dk

Yes, if you have more than one child cared for by a childminder, nursery, kindergarten, after school club, private childcare, or private childminder, you will automatically receive a sibling allowance. You pay full price for the most expensive place and half-price for the other places.

Rates custody is shared

If you have shared custody of your children but do not live together with the other parent, the children will be viewed as siblings at the parent where they are registered in Folkeregisteret (The National Registry).

Therefore, the Folkeregister address determines whether the children can receive a sibling allowance, not whether the children spend an equal amount of time at each parent.

The price is not fixed by the municipality but is instead a negotiation with the private childminder. Most parents pay what amounts to the same as a nursery placement for full-time childcare.

The private childminder’s salary is made up of both subsidies from the municipality and the parental payment. The subsidy’s size depends on the weekly number of hours and the child’s age.

The subsidy is paid in arrears and is deposited to your Nemkonto on the last bank day of the month. The subsidy will be deposited when we have received a receipt of your monthly payment. You and your child must have your address in the City of Copenhagen in order to receive a subsidy.

The subsidy rates for 2023

Childcare minimum 30 hours a week

Children younger than 3 years old*: DKK 7,351 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 2,450. (Parents pay a  total of DKK 9,801).

Children 3 years or older**: DKK 4,339 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 1,446. (Parents pay a total of DKK 5,785)

Childcare 20 to 29 hours a week

Children younger than 3 years old*: DKK 5,960 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 1,987. (Parents pay a total of DKK 7,947).

Children 3 years or older**: DKK 3,518 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 1,173. (Parents pay a total of DKK 4,691.

Childcare 10 to 19 hours a week

Children younger than 3 years old*: DKK 3,974 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 1,325. (Parents pay a total of DKK 5,299).

Children 3 years or older**: DKK 2,345 in subsidy per month with a parental payment of minimum DKK 782. (Parents pay a total of DKK 3,127.

* The subsidy will be regulated on the 1st day of the month in which your child is 3 years old. You must send us a new contract for private childcare or the subsidy will stop automatically.

** On the first day of the month, at the latest, in which your child is offered a place in grade 0.

The price varies and the institution will collect payment from you directly. Contact the individual institution to learn what they charge.

You can apply for an income-based subsidy if you use a private institution. A sibling discount will automatically be applied.