Socio-economic deficits and informal domestic childcare services in Romania: the policy drivers of the commodification of care from a micro-level perspective

This article makes the argument that while the commodification of early years childcare services in the Romanian context is shaped by similar drivers as elsewhere in Europe, the overwhelmingly informal character of this commodification is first and foremost policy-induced. In particular, the configuration of family policy provisions and the care gaps created by the absence of quality childcare alternatives especially during the first three years are mainly responsible for the expansion of undeclared home-based early years childcare services. By reflecting on the particular configuration of macro-level social and economic deficits that have shaped demand for and supply of early years childcare over the last ten years in conjunction with family policy provisions, the paper empirically engages with the ways in which these deficits play out at the household level, generating a need for informally provided bespoke early years childcare. Relying on in-depth interview material with urban and rural dual-income couples, collected in 2010 and 2015, the article captures the crucial importance of family policy instruments in shaping the nature of specific configurations of need for care services, to be provided first and foremost informally.