Preferencie rodičov pri výbere predškolského zariadenia: výsledky reprezentatívneho prieskumu na Slovensku
Parents' Preferences in the Choice of Pre-school: Results of a Representative Survey in Slovakia

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the preferences of parents of preschool children in choosing a kindergarten by analysing the importance of the most frequently discussed decision factors. Parents' preferences were assessed by analysing a number of kindergarten choice factors such as accessibility, price, diet, school specialisation and activities, reputation and recommendation. The results show that accessibility and reputation of the kindergarten are the most important factors for choosing a facility to place a child, and vice versa, price is a less important factor. Parental preferences are generally not uniform. For all factors we examined statistically significant relationships between parents' preferences and selected demographic, socio-economic and spatial indicators of parental segmentation - the most for the price factor and least for the diet and school specialisation factors. In general, price was perceived as a significant factor for a kindergarten choice, especially for parents falling into vulnerable groups (two-person households, divorced couples, parents under 30, unemployed, with lower monthly income, living in rural areas). Parents from lower net monthly income households do not place as much importance on factors such as school specialisation and reputation when choosing a kindergarten, but the accessibility of a kindergarten is much more important to them. Conversely, the accessibility of a kindergarten was a less important factor in the choice for parents over 30 years of age, from urban areas and with higher monthly income households. The paper develops theoretical insights into parents' preferences and decision-making strategies, while offering practical applications for the planning activities of local authorities.

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