Luxembourgers rely more on formal childcare. Photo: Shutterstock

Luxembourgers rely more on formal childcare. Photo: Shutterstock

Nearly two thirds of children aged three or under in Luxembourg are cared for by professionals for at least one hour a week. Parents were also less likely to exclusively look after their children.

A on 4 May found that the coronavirus pandemic had impacted the childcare habits of Europeans. Under3s in the Netherlands were least likely to be cared for only by their parents (21.9% were), while in Germany, 80.2% of children were looked after by their parents. In Luxembourg, this was true for about 35% of children in that age bracket.

The grand duchy, however, had one of the EU’s highest rates of children in formal childcare. 63.2% of Luxembourg toddlers were in a crèche for at least one hour every week, the study found. Only Denmark (67.7%) and the Netherlands (67.6%) proportionally had more children in such structures.

On average, in the EU, 32.3% were in formal care in 2020, a decrease of 8.5 percentage points compared to 2019. One in five were taken care of by family members, childminders and grandparents, a 19.3% decrease that can be explained by the sanitary measures and restrictions in place to stop the spread of covid-19.

Relying heavily on crèches when parents return to work, Luxembourg in recent weeks has for Ukrainian refugee children that have arrived in the country.