For the sampled families, nursery school is free only in the Municipality of Mantua, in other cases, however, not only is it not free, but it involves decidedly different costs between Municipalities. For families with one child and an ISEE of up to 15 thousand euros, the price goes from 80 euros per month in Catanzaro to 460 euros in Chieti. For families with a child and an ISEE of up to 25 thousand euros, similarly, the fee goes from 100 euros per month in Catanzaro to 550 euros in fees in the Municipality of Imperia.
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These territorial gaps are made even more complex by the differences in the costs, incorporated or added to the fee, of the canteen service. Adding this variable too, in fact, the most virtuous cities, for families with a child and an ISEE of up to 15 thousand euros, are Mantua with a total monthly expense of 60 euros, and Catanzaro, with a total expense of 80 euros, followed by Ragusa with an expense of 110 euros, Trapani with 111 euros and Parma with an expense of 132 euros. The five most expensive cities, however, always considering the combination of tuition and cost of the canteen service, are Belluno with 553 euros per month, Prato with 504 euros, Biella with 491 euros, Cuneo with 488 euros and, finally, Pistoia with 487 euros.
For further information: 2026 nursery school bonus, news for the ISEE and the validity of the application. INPS indications
The same inequity is also recorded for families with one child and with an ISEE of up to 25 thousand euros. Catanzaro is confirmed among the most virtuous cities, with a total monthly expense between tuition and canteen of 100 euros, Mantua with 102 euros, Ragusa with 170 euros, Agrigento with 200 euros, followed by Parma with a monthly expense of 223 euros. The most expensive cities, however, are Udine, with a monthly cost of canteen and nursery of 645 euros, Sondrio with 641 euros, Pistoia with 640 euros, Turin with 618 euros and, finally, Varese with 605 euros.
Among the larger cities, in Rome for a child with a family ISEE within 15 thousand euros, 155 euros are asked (112 for the fee and 43 for the canteen), while with an ISEE of 25 thousand euros the total is 308 euros (252 for the fee, 56 for the canteen). In Milan, the average for a child in a nursery is 316 euros both for those in the less well-off group and for those with 25 thousand euros of ISEE, while in Naples the expense reaches 272 euros for the less well-off group and 426 euros for those who count on 25 thousand euros of ISEE.
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“We cannot be satisfied with increasing the national average of available places, but we must ask ourselves where these places are created and where they continue to be missing, to guarantee adequate levels of supply throughout the national territory”, comments the confederal secretary of Uil, Santo Biondo.
On this front, explains Biondo, "the Pnrr was a missed opportunity. The investments envisaged by the Plan could have given a structural turning point to the offer of educational services for early childhood. But, unfortunately, there was none: alongside regions that have reached or exceeded the objective of guaranteeing 33 places available for every 100 children between 0 and 2 years old, there are others that remain very far from this threshold". In territories where supply remains insufficient, "support for demand must be accompanied by a structural investment capable of increasing the availability of services".
Another fundamental piece of the system is the availability of operators. For Biondo "it is necessary to plan the necessary hiring, guarantee adequate professionalism, continuous training, as well as dignified working conditions, counteracting the structural use of precarious contracts. The quality of the work of the operators is, in fact, directly linked to the quality of the service offered to children and their families. The priority remains, therefore, that of increasing the places available where they are still lacking, strengthening a public and accessible offer, ensuring the personnel necessary for the functioning of the services and reducing territorial gaps, so that access to educational services for early childhood does not continue to depend on the territory in which a girl or boy is born and lives."
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