Affordable and accessible quality childcare provision is extremely important for working parents. Throughout Europe, however, the provision, quality and affordability of childcare vary considerably, with each country having its own unique array of childcare arrangements. In this chapter we will provide an overview of the current state of affairs with regard to the provision of child care services in 27 Eu Member States and three Eea countries: Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. We discuss the use of child care services, the quality of the services provided and their affordability. The results suggest that the childcare issue will remain an important policy priority in the near future. Despite all the effort and improvements, high quality and affordable childcare facilities are still in short supply in quite a number of European Member States.only subscribers can see the full article