The CERN Nursery Services Working Group was set up in June 2016 as a collaboration between CERN’s Finance and Human Resources sector and the Staff Association under the supervision of Martin Steinacher, Director for Finance and Human Resources. Its purpose is to elaborate – as broadly as possible – the best solutions to guarantee the sustainability of nursery services at CERN.

The mandate of the working group is to reflect generally on the range and level of the services to be provided within the financial constraints, addressing age coverage, on-site or off-site provisions, the infrastructure needed, etc.; to take into account the expectations of the CERN community; to assess the requirements within the Organization in terms supporting diversity and the subsidies offered; and to study specifically the options for outsourcing certain services.

In this context, an anonymous survey was distributed in October to 1539 parents of children under 10 to gather their feedback and understand their needs and expectations in terms of childcare support structures offered by CERN. The response rate was 32% and the results were rich in content and scope. Once the results have been analysed fully, the working group will define the most appropriate recommendations to match the needs that were expressed. The results will be made available on a dedicated webpage.

The working group would like to thank all those who took part in this survey, which will help shape the future of childcare services at CERN. Further information regarding developments around this initiative will be shared in future community news updates.