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The boom in private nurseries
Babilou, Les Gazouillis, Les Petits Chaperons rouges… Behind this term borrowed from the world of very early childhood, we find private companies in full expansion, which have experienced an annual growth rate of 35% in recent years.
What they have in common: they build and manage nurseries throughout France, on behalf of private companies or for municipalities.
The arrival of the private sector in reception facilities and its exponential development has from the outset aroused concern and suspicion. Can this tool and fundamental issue of family policy be left in the hands of operators whose objective is to make a profit? Are parents and babies happy there?
From public to private: no price difference and innovative services
First observation, the private nurseries are all subject to the same standards as the public structures, whether it concerns the security of the premises, the supervision rate or the qualification of the personnel.
Pricing side, there too, no big difference with the public. Most private nurseries receive operating aid issued by the CNAF, subject to the application of a tariff scale proportional to the parents’ income and strictly regulated. In short, for you, the entrance ticket is often the same.
For public authorities, recourse to the private sector is also a boon. More and more municipalities are reserving cots in inter-company crèches, or carrying out “public service delegations”. Why ? Because the private sector has for him a reactivity, an ability to adapt to demand, an incomparable sense of innovation. About four months are enough to see a private nursery emerge from the earth. Certain groups, such as Maison Bleue, have specialized in structures with high environmental quality, offering premises that are very well thought out in terms of sustainable development.
Other companies offer specialized educational projects. Cap enfants (a very small network of four establishments) develops musical nurseries. The buildings offer good sound quality and very original educational tools have been developed (such as a musical bubble in which tactile zones trigger sounds). Another useful initiative for parents: People and Baby is now a partner of Pôle Emploi and offers occasional or emergency support to mothers looking for work when they have to go to a job interview.
The private sector is also less red tape. “In the public, you have to ask fifteen people for permission before you can buy a pencil,” says Julien, a nurse in a private nursery. And for the means granted, that really has nothing to do with it. My quarterly budget for children’s books and games is what I could spend for a year in the public. “
Private nurseries: the risk of baby factories
But this beautiful showcase hides another reality: nurseries must be profitable. Any empty cradle is considered a shortfall. As soon as a child is absent, due to leave or illness, the manager must seek to replace him. It is certainly a service rendered to families (no more occupied cradles, there are more parents out of business), but also a real upheaval. “Twenty years ago, nurseries met the needs of children, today everyone tries to meet the needs of parents as much as possible,” notes Frédérique Garciau, from the PMI Early Childhood department of 92. It’s on this new situation, for which they are not, moreover, responsible, that private companies are developing. With the encouragement of the CNAF. “The occupancy rate is an important variable, insofar as it is about the good use of public funds and that it is a way of responding to social demand, justifies Daniel Lenoir, director of the CNAF. From this point of view, the private and associative sector is showing real dynamism. ”
But this response to a “societal” need, which at the same time makes it possible to optimize each cradle all year round, has a cost for the teams who take care of your children. Nursery staff constantly feel tight flow. “The question of profit is very important for us,” explains this psychologist, an employee of one of the heavyweights in the sector. Tensions between the field and the headquarters are strong. Teams suffer because we do not recognize the specificity of their work, and children suffer. “” I have been working for six months in a private nursery and I have only one objective, to pass the competitions to go to the public, says this young educator of young children (EJE). In my structure, sick leaves are increasing, the turnover is very important, I have seen abandonment of work. We are often at the limit of legality, two to take care of twenty children. And we keep telling us “you are not profitable”. “
Private nurseries: parents, clients under pressure
This pressure is also felt by many parents. “My eldest had gone to a municipal crèche and for my second, I had a place in an inter-company crèche,” says this mother. I saw the difference. In the private sector, the first glance is a little surprising since we are only talking about the contract, the need to badger, and that an overrun of a few minutes results in the billing of an additional hour. If you go on vacation, you have to warn three months in advance so that they can use the place. One of the professionals behaved very badly with a little girl who seemed to crystallize her fed up. This stuff that everyone sells like a dream is not very benevolent to babies. So much so that the last year, and it’s a shame, I opted for a nanny. “In two years, we have witnessed a dozen resignations, including that of the director,” explains this other mother. When returning from vacation, it often happens that we entrust our child to someone we have never seen. ”
Of course, some structures malfunction more than others and there are even some that are exemplary. Faced with this complaint from professionals and some parents, Jean-Emmanuel Rodocanachi, president of the Little Red Riding Hoods and president of the French Federation of Crèche Enterprises (FFEC) is surprised: “In our sector of activity, in terms of job, there are more offers than demands, so it’s very easy to leave a place if you’re not happy. Our whole challenge is to retain our teams, in particular through an HR policy of training and career development. “He mentions the survey carried out in May 2013 by the LH2 firm with 1845 parents, the confidence score obtained by inter-company crèches is 8,9 / 10 and the overall satisfaction is 8,4 / 10, that is to say excellent scores indeed.
And then, for sure, the obligation of profitability also concerns the public. But the pressure on professionals remains visibly stronger in the private sector. It is therefore up to you, but also to the employers who preempt cradles for their employees, and to the municipalities which delegate their prerogatives, to be vigilant and to ensure that these companies respect their employees. And babies.