Maternity leave, combination offers and subsidies for caring for one's own children

Parents on maternity leave are entitled to a 30-hour maternity place for children between 26 weeks and until the start of school in municipal day care or private institutions for a reduced co-payment. See current rates.

The maternity center can be used daily from 08.00 to 14.00.

The right to a maternity place applies for a continuous period per child. However, parents can have up to 5 weeks during which the maternity leave is interrupted (on holiday or similar), without losing the maternity place. Parents have a duty to inform the Placement Guide if the maternity leave is interrupted or ends in some other way by more than 5 weeks.

You cannot apply for a maternity place for children who are registered with private childminders.

Application for a maternity place must be sent to pladsanvisning@sonderborg.dk no later than 2 months before, before the 1st of the month the maternity leave is to start. The period must begin on the 1st of a month and end on the last working day of the month in which the right to absence expires.

The application must contain:

• Information about the desired period for the maternity place
• Documentation that one of the parents is on maternity / paternity leave during the period (eg maternity agreement with employer or unemployment insurance fund)

When the maternity place ends, the child is enrolled in a full-time place in the same institution, unless the parents indicate otherwise.

Combination offers can be offered to children in daycare and are valid until the child starts school. The scheme cannot therefore be used for children who attend school or after-school care.

Combination services are offered to single parents and couples who have a documented work-related need for care outside the daycare center's regular opening hours.

A combination offer allows the child to have:

• a part-time place in a day care facility – corresponding to a maximum of 28 hours/week (daycare, nursery or kindergarten), and
• flexible care outside the daycare center's opening hours, for which a municipal subsidy is provided (in 2026, the subsidy is DKK 7.203 per month and is calculated proportionally according to the number of hours used with a private sitter).

Flexible childcare can be provided by parents entering into an agreement with a private caretakerThis can be either an already established private sitter or a new private sitter that the parents themselves wish to use.
It is also possible to hire someone to care for the child in your own home.

All flexible care agreements require the municipality's approval.

Important framework for combination offers

• The combined offer may not exceed the total amount of time equivalent to a full-time place in a day care facility in the municipality.
• A full-time position corresponds to the full opening hours in:
• • daycare centers: 50 hours per week,
  • Daycare: 48 hours per week.
• The flexible care (private care) must amount to at least 10 hours per week on average, calculated over a period of 4 weeks.
• Collaboration with a flexible childcare arrangement requires municipal approval.
• Both parents – or the single parent – ​​must be able to document in writing their work-related care needs.

Sønderborg Municipality provides subsidies so that you can look after your own child. There are some criteria that must be met.

You must be aware that:

• The option includes all children aged 24 weeks to 3 years.
• The subsidy amounts to DKK 6.864 per month in 2026 (as of May 1, DKK 7.203)
• The subsidy is given for a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 1 year. 
• It is possible to extend the subsidy period by reapplying, as long as the total period does not exceed 1 year. If an extension of the existing period is desired, the new period must be applied for before the first period ends, otherwise it is not possible to extend.
• The subsidy must be applied for before the 1st of the month in which you want the subsidy to take effect. The grant may well be granted on an "odd" date for a month.
• The subsidy is paid in arrears.  
• A maximum of 3 grants can be paid to the same household, however, the grant can be a maximum of what corresponds to the highest daily allowance rate. Subsidy for looking after one's own child can only be granted once per year. child.
• The grant is taxable and is taxed as A income.
• The parent who applies for subsidy to look after their own child cannot simultaneously receive public transfer income or have income from work.
• Holding/payment of care days earned during periods of maternity leave must be paid concurrently with the subsidy.
• The parent who applies for subsidy for looking after their own child must have resided in Denmark for 7 of the past 8 years. Does not apply to EU/EEA citizens.
• Booking a place in the day offer after the grant period ends, according to the general seat allocation rules. Therefore, it cannot be guaranteed that you will be able to get a place in the same daycare or children's home that you may have previously had.
• The subsidy can be split into 2 periods - however a maximum of 1 year. Can be shared by mother and father.
• No subsidy can be paid for looking after one's own children if the applicant does not make use of their work opportunities, cf. Promulgation of the Act on active social policy, § 13, subsection 10, and § 13 f, subsection 1-4, cf. section 26, subsection 4-10.
• Parents cannot receive subsidies for looking after their own children if Sønderborg Municipality assesses that the child needs special support in accordance with Section 52 of the Social Services Act, and considers it necessary for the child to be admitted to a day care facility.
• If you are self-employed, you must provide your company's CVR number on request. By accepting these terms in writing, you declare in good faith that you, as a self-employed person, have no income during the same period in which you receive subsidies for looking after your own children, cf. §§86-91 of the Day Care Act and can be punished cf. §161 of the Criminal Code in case of incorrect information.
   

Applications for subsidies for looking after one's own children are made via the Digital Pladsanvisning (follow the link at the top of the page).