The childcare service benefit offers a discount to parents on childcare services. The discount is displayed on the invoices issued by the childcare service provider. The service provider can submit an application to receive the benefit. Private kindergartens and daycare centres have the right to use the benefit to cover the salary costs of their teachers and other employees, the cost of educational materials and the children’s catering cost.

The following requirements must be met in order to receive the benefit:

·        A childcare service provider must hold a valid activity licence at the time of application. A self-employed person providing the service must be qualified in childcare at the time of application;

·        The service provider does not have any tax arrears to the authorities of the city of Tallinn at the time of application;

·        The child using the service (hereinafter referred to as the child) is between one and a half and seven years of age (before starting school);

·        According to the population register, the registered residence of the child and their parent or guardian (hereinafter referred to as the parent) has been in Tallinn on the 31 December of the year preceding the application as well as at the time of application;

·        The child has been marked as an applicant in the admission list of at least three municipal kindergartens or daycare centres in the Tallinn Education Information System in order to receive a place within a month of their parent’s confirmation of their wish to grant benefit to the service provider in the Tallinn e-service and the parent has been offered less than three places. A place will be offered in the kindergarten/daycare centre marked on the application if there is a vacancy in a group that is suitable for the child’s age. If a place offer is made within six months of the child starting school and the offer is declined, the service provider still has a right to apply for childcare benefit.

·        The service provider has registered the child in the database of Tallinn’s universal services;

·        The parent has confirmed their wish to grant the childcare benefit to the service provider in the Tallinn e-service portal.

Conditions for receiving childcare benefit* if the child is on the list of a private kindergarten as of 31 December 2023:

·        The residence of the child and their parent is the city of Tallinn.

·        The child has been entered into the list of a private kindergarten or daycare centre in the Tallinn Education Information System.

·        The child has been marked as an applicant in the admission list of at least three municipal kindergartens or daycare centres in the Tallinn Education Information System

Conditions for receiving childcare benefit* if the child is on the list of a daycare centre as of 31 December 2023:

·        The residence of the child and their parent is in Tallinn. The caregiver does not have to be a Tallinn resident.

·        The child is between one and a half and seven years of age.

·        The child is not enrolled at a municipal or private kindergarten/school.

*Special terms for private kindergartens and daycare centres shall be valid until 31 August 2024. The requirements of the provision of the benefit specified in §2 of Regulation No. 29 “The procedure for the provision of childcare benefit” will be valid from 1 September 2024.

The childcare benefit paid to the service provider includes:

·        an allowance that is equal to the estimated cost of a place in a municipal kindergarten or daycare centre in the administrative domain of the Tallinn Education Department (in 2024, it is 276 euros per child).

·        Service providers will receive a supplementary benefit:

o   for the second and subsequent children of the same parent/family if they attend the same private kindergarten or daycare centre as their sibling(s);

o   for children with special educational needs for whom the service provider has received special recommendations on how to support their development, learning and upbringing from an out-of-school advisory team.

·        Service providers will also receive daily food allowance for fixed meal days:

• • 2.75 euros per day for children under three years of age
  • 3.05 euros per day for children aged three and older

 Parents must confirm their wish to grant the benefit to their service provider in the Tallinn e-service portal twice a year by the 15th day of the month. In this case, the benefit will be paid from the same month.

More information and the benefit application form for the service provider can be found here:

https://www.tallinn.ee/et/haridus/lapsehoiuteenuse-toetus-info-teenuse-osutajale