oa Marktwerking in de kinderopvang: nadelig voor de intrinsieke motivatie van groepsleid(st)ers?

Privatisation in Child Care: detrimental for the intrinsic motivation of childminders?

The Dutch child care sector has been confronted with a transition from a welfare sector into a market sector. The last step in this transition process took place with the introduction of a new Act on Child Care on 1 January 2005: the 'Wet Kinderopvang'. In discussions regarding the introduction of market forces the possible effects for employees are usually not taken into consideration. It can be questioned, however, whether the copying of management principles from the private sector into the public sector leaves employee motivation unaffected. In this article, the consequences of the introduction of market forces in the Dutch child care sector for the motivation of childminders are central. The sample consists of 477 childminders working in 30 different Dutch child care organisations. The results show that the extent to which child care organisations are confronted with market forces does not influence the intrinsic motivation of childminders. Transitions in public sectors therefore do not have to be detrimental for the intrinsic motivation of employees.