Where does full-time childcare take least of a couple's income?
Italy leads on share of income at 0% of income; France is last of the 15 shown at 10% of income.
Childcare is the cost that decides whether a second earner works at all, and the headline fee says little: benefits, tax relief and free-hours entitlements can take it from a third of a household's income to almost nothing. OECD's tax-benefit model nets all of that out for one standard household.
That household — a couple both earning the average wage, two children aged two and three in full-time centre-based care, claiming no social assistance — is nobody's exactly, which is what makes 22 countries comparable. The tool behind this page shows the single-parent case and the figure in local currency.
Only OECD members are modelled; the rest of the spine is absent rather than estimated. Published cost figures, for information only — a real quote decides.
| # | Country | Share of income | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 0% of income | 2023 |
| 2 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 1% of income | 2023 |
| 3 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 3% of income | 2023 |
| 4 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 3% of income | 2023 |
| 5 | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 4% of income | 2023 |
| 6 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 4% of income | 2023 |
| 7 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 5% of income | 2023 |
| 8 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 5% of income | 2023 |
| 9 | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 5% of income | 2023 |
| 10 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 6% of income | 2023 |
| 11 | 🇬🇷 Greece | 6% of income | 2023 |
| 12 | 🇨🇿 Czechia | 7% of income | 2023 |
| 13 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 8% of income | 2023 |
| 14 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 9% of income | 2023 |
| 15 | 🇫🇷 France | 10% of income | 2023 |
How this is worked out: Net childcare cost as % of household disposable income, couple both at 100% of the average wage, two children aged 2 and 3, full-time centre-based care, OECD Tax-Benefit models (DSD_TAXBEN_NCC), newest year at the vintage floor, lowest first. Refreshed 2026-09-05. Estimates for comparison, not advice.
Check your own numbers
A ranking is a starting point, not an answer — your income, household and destination change the order. The Childcare cost runs the same engine against your own figures, and every country above links to its own page.