Documentary: "Nurseries, raid on babies", the race for profitability in private establishments

On June 22, 2022, the death of 11-month-old Lisa in a People&Baby facility in Lyon caused an electric shock and freed the voices of employees of various private for-profit daycare centers. Despite glittering promotional brochures and reassuring speeches to parents and public decision-makers, who subsidize them abundantly, this early childhood sector is said to be plagued by "systemic failures," a source of abuse .

In a remarkable two-part documentary, journalists Alain Pirot and Coraline Salvoch investigate the behind-the-scenes workings of a business where profit-driven thinking seems to take precedence over children's well-being. From Vitrolles to Annecy, the testimonies of parents and professionals are shocking. Here, management has implemented a strategy to save money on food, at the risk of starving children. There, staff are deliberately kept understaffed or hiring inexperienced staff is preferred because it's less expensive.

The result of the opening up to competition by the European Union in 2004 and encouraged by deregulation, the boom in private daycare centers has generated spectacular fortunes and attracted foreign investors, notably American pension funds, who demand significant returns. However, as former Minister for Families Laurence Rossignol points out, "making money in this sector can only be done at the expense of the working conditions of staff and the quality of service," and therefore of the needs of young children.

The well-researched report paints a worrying picture, complemented by insights into the situation in other European countries. From the United Kingdom—where the total privatization of childcare has led to a kind of Wild West, scams are flourishing—to Belgium, where authorities are trying to regain control of private institutions, at the risk of no longer providing enough places for the population. A complex equation to solve.