Chapter 9: Institutionalised Social Innovation: The Case of Oslo, Norway

Social innovation has played an important role in the expansion of the Norwegian kindergarten sector. Private non-profit organisations began to establish childcare institutions for single, working mothers from the late 1880s. The development of full kindergarten coverage depended on private initiatives, and up until the 2000s, these initiatives were predominantly social innovations. Since 2009, children aged 1–5 years have had the right to a place at kindergarten, and now 93% of children are enrolled during the pre-school period. Kindergarten services are currently provided by both municipal and (non-profit and for-profit) private actors, each enrolling about half of the children meaning private kindergarten service is now almost fully institutionalised. Being mainly publicly funded, all kindergartens are regulated by national law setting requirements for their basic values, content and pedagogical quality. The close interplay between public and private actors in expanding the kindergarten sector has contributed to the high female labour market participation that Norway enjoys today. This also enables families to have two incomes, thereby reducing the risk of poverty. While kindergartens established by social innovation have been institutionalised into a unitary system, municipal kindergartens tend to take on a broader social mandate than private kindergartens. This might have consequences for social equalisation, with private kindergartens more common in more affluent areas. No major differences in quality have been found between municipal and private kindergartens, but general challenges in terms of pedagogic quality may diminish the equalising effects of Norwegian kindergartens.