These small structures aim to provide a multilingual childcare alternative that is a cross between a nursery and childminder. Once the government greenlights the bill, they would offer 20 hours free care per week for children aged from 1 to 4.

Among the requirements in the bill, mini-crèche managers must be educators with socio-educational supervision training. The number of children at a mini-crèche at any one time should not exceed 11 (no more than 4 babies under 1 year at a time), while the structures should offer continuous reception and supervision from 5am to 11pm.

Mini-crèches could open as early as 7 January 2019 when the new law enters into force.

According to a parliamentary statement, some 52,000 children aged from 0 to 12 regularly attend a reception facility, be it a nursery, foyer or with a childminder.