Mariagerfjord Municipality says it can no longer recruit enough home-based childminders and has started referring children to care in neighboring towns, in some cases in Rebild Municipality.
Many parents in Mariagerfjord got up extra early on Tuesday to drive their children to care farther from home. DR reports that the municipality has an acute shortage of dagplejere, the home-based childminders used widely in Danish childcare.
Leif Skaarup (S), chairman of the city council’s children and family committee, says the shortage is not new but cannot be solved. According to Skaarup, being a dagplejer is a lifestyle that fewer people now choose.
Mariagerfjord has spent several years trying to recruit more municipal dagplejere. The most recent recruitment attempt produced only one new dagplejer, DR reports.
Skaarup says the municipality has removed some administrative tasks and added professional sparring and community, as dagplejere had requested. He adds that efforts to promote the profession have had little effect.
Gathering enough children for a vuggestue is difficult in a municipality with many small towns. Skaarup says the municipality would prefer care in the towns where parents live, but sees no future in recruiting more dagplejere. He says more vuggestue places are therefore necessary.
Same problem in Jammerbugt
Several other municipalities face the same situation. In Jammerbugt Municipality, parents are also being sent on long drives to have their children looked after, according to DR.
Ulla Flintholm (V), chair of Jammerbugt’s children and family committee, attributes the shortage to the isolated nature of the work. She notes that the municipality has playgroups and professional communities, but that dagplejere are largely alone in daily life. As stated by Flintholm, this differs from working as an assistant in a daycare institution.
Jammerbugt now plans to create more vuggestue places. Jammerbugt Posten reported on September 20, 2026, that the municipality is expanding vuggestue capacity by eight places from October 1, 2026, while still seeking dagplejere in several towns.
Flintholm says a vuggestue offers something different from dagpleje, and that parents should still be able to choose what suits their child. In Mariagerfjord, the municipality’s 2026 budget set aside DKK 840,000 annually from 2026 onward to maintain the service level in dagpleje after a new collective agreement.
