The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Who was Swedish day-care meant for?

Black and white photo of a large group of small children in front of a building. Photo.
Current preschool Eriksgården in Landskrona. The photo is probably from 1901, when the building was called "The Asylum for Small Children". Photo: Landskrona museum.

The history of Swedish day-care is examined in a new study that provides insight into Sweden's day-care system during the early 20th century. Together with Luciana Quaranta, Annika Elwert has looked at which factors influenced enrolment in day-care centres in southern Sweden for children born between 1900 and 1935.

The study shows that at the beginning of the 20th century it was unusual for children in Landskrona to go to day-care*, today called preschool; only 8% of the children were ever enrolled. By comparison, today close to 86% of children go to preschool in Sweden**.

The researchers found that day-care attendance was more common among children of single mothers and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

To conduct the study, the researchers searched for enrolment books from daycares in Landskrona. These were found in the Landskrona City Archives and also at Eriksgården's preschool. All enrolment lists were photographed and digitized.

They were among the first initiatives aimed at supporting mothers and young children, and became a significant part of the country's welfare state.

 Using the children's names and dates of birth, the day-care material was linked to data from an existing database (Scanian Economic Demographic Database), which contains information about all families in Landskrona during the time, including their occupations, income, and family status.

- The findings help us understand how day-care centres functioned in the past and who were most helped by these day-care centres, says Annika Elwert, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology in Lund.

- The Swedish day-care system originates from early charity initiatives in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They were among the first initiatives aimed at supporting mothers and young children, and they became a significant part of the country's welfare state.

This new study has focused on understanding the factors that influenced day-care enrolment in southern Sweden during the early twentieth century. The study used archival records of children born between 1900 and 1935 who attended daycare in the city of Landskrona.

These records were complemented with data about their families and homes, as well as information on all other individuals living in Landskrona at the time. The compiled data enabled a comparison of families whose children were enrolled in daycare with those whose children were not.

In the next phase of the project, the researchers will investigate whether there were advantages for children who attended preschool. Among other things, the they will examine whether children who attended preschool had higher or lower grades than children of the same social class who did not attend preschool.


*Day-care - a translation of the Swedish "daghem", a Swedish system for child-care which was transformed in 1998 into today's "förskola" (preschool). The Swedish preschools enroll children from about one to five years old.

** Preschool - a translation of the Swedish "förskola". According to ”Skolverket” nearly  86 percent of Sweden’s children aged one to five were enrolled in “förskola” autumn 2021.

About the study

Portrait Annika Elwert. Photo: Emma Lord.
Annika Elwert

Annika Elwert, associate senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology, has together with Luciana Quaranta, published the article "The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth-century southern Sweden" in the scientific journal The History of the Family.

The study found that 8% of children born during this time were ever enrolled in day-cares, with most of them attending between the ages of 3 and 6. The researchers found that day-care attendance was more common among children of single mothers and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Overall, this study sheds light on the early days of Sweden's day-care system and the factors that influenced day-care attendance in southern Sweden. The findings help us understand how daycare worked in the past and who it helped the most.

Annika Elwert's profile in Lund University Research Portal.

Luciana Quaranta's profile in Lund University Research Portal.

Read the article "The social care-taking of the city-kids. Determinants for day-care attendance in early twentieth-century southern Sweden" on tandfonline.com