Childcare in Lisbon: Creches, Waiting Lists and Nannies
Finding childcare is one of the first big jobs for a family moving to Lisbon with a baby or toddler. The words are new (creche, ama, jardim de infância), the free creche scheme has its own rules, and the waiting lists are real. This guide explains how childcare works in Portugal for children under 3, and how to get a free creche place. Then we cover English-speaking options, and what it means to hire a nanny properly.
A quick note before we start. The way you apply for a free creche place changed recently, and it's now done online only. Everything here is what the official sources said when we checked, and we tell you which source each time. It's friendly guidance, not legal advice, so confirm the details with Segurança Social or the creche before you rely on them.
The short version
- Creche is for children up to 3, usually from about 3 months. From 3, children move on to jardim de infância (pre-school).
- Creche can be free under the Creche Feliz scheme, at social-sector creches, Santa Casa creches and Segurança Social childminders. Private creches in the scheme are free only when there's no free place nearby.
- You apply online only, on the Segurança Social portal or app, choosing creches in order of preference.
- Places go by a priority list. Children already at the creche come first, and living or working nearby matters a lot.
- Start early. Creche places in the Lisbon area fall short of demand, so shortlist and visit during pregnancy if you can.
- A nanny you pay directly is a domestic worker. That means registering with Segurança Social, monthly contributions and work-accident insurance.
How childcare works in Portugal, from birth to 6
Childcare for under-threes in Portugal is part of the social security system, not the school system. The government's family guide lists three options for children from about 3 months until they start jardim de infância.
- Creche. A nursery for children up to 3. The official definition is a socio-educational service for families, so it's about care and early learning, not formal school. Most are run by social-sector institutions, the IPSS and Misericórdias. Others are private businesses, and a few are run by public bodies.
- Ama. A childminder who looks after children in her own home. She needs an authorisation from Segurança Social and has to be at least 21. She can care for at most four children, and her own children under school age count towards that limit.
- Creche familiar. A group of amas who work with a social institution, which supports and supervises them.
From 3, children can go to jardim de infância, which Portugal calls educação pré-escolar. It's optional and runs until compulsory school starts at 6. In public and non-profit jardins de infância, the 25-hour weekly educational part is free. A recent law makes pre-school universal from the year a child turns 3, though places are still catching up in some areas.
A word on supply. The EU's Eurydice network, which tracks education systems, notes that Portugal doesn't guarantee a creche place for under-threes. It also notes that supply in the Lisbon and Porto areas falls short of need. That's why the timing advice later in this guide matters.
Creche Feliz: the free creche scheme
Creche Feliz is the name of Portugal's free creche scheme. It started with the youngest children and now covers every child of creche age, up to 3. It isn't means-tested: the free place depends on your child's age and on the creche, not on your income.
Which creches are in it
- Social-sector creches (IPSS, Misericórdias and similar) that have a cooperation agreement with Segurança Social. These are the backbone of the scheme.
- Creches and creches familiares run by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, the city's historic social institution.
- Amas linked to Segurança Social.
- Private and public creches that join the scheme's pool, called the bolsa de creches aderentes. More on these below, because the rules are different.
What's free and what isn't
Under the scheme's rules, the free place covers all the creche's normal activities and care, and meals, including special diets with a medical prescription. It also covers enrolment and insurance costs, and extended hours when your work needs them.
What you still pay for: optional activities outside the creche's teaching plan, transport, nappies, and uniforms. Ask each creche for its list of extras before you accept a place, so there are no surprises.
Private creches in the scheme, and the catch
A private creche that has joined the bolsa can be free for you, but only if there's no free place in the social network where you live or work. The rules look at the parish (freguesia) where you live, the parish where you work, and the parishes next to them. Santa Casa creches count as part of that network in Lisbon.
If you qualify, Segurança Social pays the private creche directly on your child's behalf, once it has checked there's no free place nearby. Your request goes through the same online system as any other. To hold the place, the creche can ask for a deposit of up to €25, which it must return when you sign the contract.
This matters for English-speaking families. If a private bilingual creche near you is in the bolsa, and there's no free social-sector place in your parishes, it may cost you nothing. If there is a social-sector place, you'd pay the private fee yourself. Always ask a private creche whether it's in the bolsa.
How to apply for a free place
Requests for free creche places are now made only online, through the Segurança Social portal or the Segurança Social app. Segurança Social's own page says so plainly. For social-sector creches, in-person registrations that were already confirmed before the switch are looked at case by case.
To log in, you'll need your Segurança Social number, the NISS, with its password, or a Chave Móvel Digital (Portugal's digital login). The consumer association DECO PROteste has published a walkthrough. This is the route, as they describe it.
- Go to Família, then Desenvolvimento de crianças e jovens, then Creche Feliz.
- Choose the option for citizens to search for vacancies and manage applications.
- Search by district, municipality, parish and type of place.
- Add up to three creches to your request, in order of preference.
- Fill in your child's, your own and your household's details, then submit.
- Follow progress in your list of applications in progress.
The request goes to your first choice. If it has no place, it moves on to your second, then your third. If none of them has a place, you can submit a new request. If you're choosing creches in an area that isn't the address Segurança Social has for you, expect to upload proof of where you work or live.
Screens and steps change, so treat this as a map, not a script. If you get stuck, ask through the portal's help section or Segurança Social's phone line.
Who gets priority, and how waiting lists really work
When a creche has more requests than places, it fills them in a fixed order set out in the scheme's rules. Here it is in plain English, top priority first.
- Children who were at the creche the year before.
- Children with a disability.
- Children of student parents who are minors, of parents who receive support for independent living or are recognised main informal carers, and children in care or in a shelter.
- Children with a brother or sister from the same household at a service run by the same institution.
- Children whose family gets the Garantia para a Infância or the lower brackets of abono de família (Portugal's child benefit), and who live in the creche's area.
- The same group, when the parents work in the creche's area.
- Single-parent and large families living in the area.
- Families living in the area.
- Single-parent and large families working in the area.
- Families working in the area.
On top of that list, at least 30% of the free places are set aside for children on the Garantia para a Infância or on abono de família up to the 3rd bracket. Children placed by a child protection commission or a court have to be admitted, even if that means an extra place. Admission also includes a social and economic assessment of the household, done with the parents.
What does this mean if you've just arrived? You'll most often fall into the groups for living or working in the creche's area. That's why the parish you choose to live in shapes which creches count as local for you. If you're still deciding, our guide to Lisbon's neighbourhoods and what rent really costs goes parish by parish.
Two more things work in your favour once you're in. A child who gets a free place keeps it until they turn 3. And because children already at the creche come first, a younger brother or sister later has a better chance.
When places open, and when to start
Because children carry on from year to year, many places open up around September, when the oldest group moves on to jardim de infância. A place mid-year depends on someone leaving. So the earlier you start, the more options you'll have.
Our advice is to start during pregnancy if you can. Shortlist creches near home and work, visit them, and ask each one directly how it handles a request for a baby who isn't born yet. With the new online system, check on the portal whether you can submit before the birth or need to wait. And plan a fallback for the first months, such as an ama or a nanny, in case no place comes through in time.
Documents and numbers to sort out first
None of this is hard on its own, but it takes time when you're new, so start early.
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- Your NISS. Your Segurança Social number is your login to the portal, so you need it before you can apply.
- Your NIF. Your Portuguese tax number. You'll need it for invoices, tax deductions and most of daily life. Our guide to getting a NIF in Portugal covers how.
- Your child's numbers. Expect to be asked for your child's own social security, tax and health numbers. If your baby is born in Portugal, ask at the birth registration how these are issued. The health number, the número de utente, comes with registering at your centro de saúde. Our guide to registering with the SNS explains it.
- The vaccination record. Every creche has to keep proof of each child's vaccination status in their file. Bring the boletim de vacinas, or your home country's record.
- Your child's doctor. The creche's file also includes the name and contact of your child's doctor, so register with a family doctor or a paediatrician early.
- Proof of address or work, if you're applying near a home or job that Segurança Social doesn't have on file yet.
Private, bilingual and international options
Plenty of families use a private creche, either because there's no free place or because they want something specific, such as English in the classroom. Here's what to know.
Private creches outside the scheme set their own fees. Monthly creche fees aren't regulated in Portugal, and each creche usually runs its own registration and waiting list. Every creche has to display its price list, so ask for the full one, including enrolment, meals and anything charged as an extra.
Check that it's licensed. Creches need a licence and are supervised by Segurança Social. The authorisation to operate has to be on display. You can also look creches up on Carta Social, the government's directory of social services, which lets you search by type of service and location.
Ask what "English-speaking" really means. Some private creches and international schools advertise bilingual Portuguese and English programmes, a few from the first months. That can mean an English-speaking teacher in every room, or one weekly English session. Ask who speaks English with the children, and for how much of the day.
Don't rule out Portuguese. In a social-sector creche, the day will almost always be in Portuguese. For families planning to stay, that's often the point. Just make sure you can talk to the staff about your child's day, even if it takes a translation app at first.
International schools start early too. Several international schools in and around Lisbon have early-years classes before Grade 1, called Pre-K, Nursery or Early Years. Most are west of the city. Ask each one the youngest age it takes. Our guide to choosing an international school in Lisbon covers curricula, locations and fees.
Keep the invoices. If you pay for a creche, the fees count as education expenses on your Portuguese income tax. When we checked, 30% of them could come off your tax, within a yearly cap of €800 shared with your other education costs. The invoices need to be electronic and carry a NIF from your household.
For the rest of the family budget, see what it really costs to live in Lisbon.
Nannies and babysitters
A nanny can make sense for a young baby before creche, while you wait for a place, for long or irregular working hours, or as back-up. Many families also want someone who speaks English with their child at home.
A nanny is an employee, not a favour
Here's the part newcomers often miss. In Portugal, if you pay someone directly to look after your children in your home on a regular basis, that's a domestic service contract. Childcare is listed by name in the law, alongside cooking and cleaning. You become an employer, with real obligations.
- Register before day one. You register your nanny with Segurança Social, or report that they're starting to work for you, before the work begins. It's done on the Segurança Social portal.
- Pay monthly contributions. You pay them between the 1st and the 25th of the following month. You take the nanny's share out of their pay and pay it together with yours.
- Know the rates. When we checked, contributions on Segurança Social's fixed conventional salary were 28.3%, split 18.9% for you and 9.4% for the nanny. On the real wage they were 33.3%, split 22.3% and 11%. For someone paid by the hour, you declare at least 30 hours a month.
- Take out work-accident insurance. It's compulsory for domestic workers, whatever the contract or its length, and it's paid by you.
- Holidays and Christmas pay. Domestic workers are entitled to 22 working days of paid holiday a year and a Christmas payment of one month's salary.
- Put it in writing. The law only requires a written contract for a fixed term, but a written agreement on hours, pay and duties protects you both. Segurança Social also asks for one if contributions are based on the real wage.
- Check the right to work. For a nanny who isn't Portuguese, Segurança Social asks for the documents showing they can live and work in Portugal.
This is taken seriously. Segurança Social's guide says that not reporting a domestic worker on time can be punished with a fine or even prison. It's also about your nanny: declared work gives them access to sick pay and a pension record.
If you book through an agency, or a nanny who's self-employed and invoices you, the arrangement can be different. Ask who's responsible for social security and insurance, and get the answer in writing.
What to look for
- Experience with your child's age, especially for a newborn.
- References you can call, ideally from other families in Lisbon.
- First aid training, and how they'd handle an emergency in Portuguese.
- A paid trial day or week before you commit.
- A clear agreement on hours, holidays, sick days and what happens if plans change.
On Locallista, Lisbon nannies list rates from about €8 an hour. That's the nanny's rate, before any social security contributions and insurance if you employ them directly. For evenings out or the odd afternoon, a babysitter is the lighter option.
How to compare creches and visit
Portugal's rules for creches give you a ready-made checklist. Use it on every visit.
- On the wall: the authorisation to operate, the internal rules (regulamento interno), opening hours, the price list, the weekly menu, the accident insurance policy and the complaints book. All of these have to be on display.
- Group sizes: at most 10 babies in a group before they walk, 14 from walking to 24 months, and 18 from 24 to 36 months. Segurança Social can allow two more in the two older groups.
- Staff: two carers for each group of babies who aren't walking yet. From walking, each group has a qualified early-years teacher (educador de infância) and an assistant.
- Hours: the rules say opening hours should fit parents' needs, without a child staying longer than necessary. Ask about holiday closures too.
- Settling in: ask how the first weeks work, and whether you can stay with your child at the start.
- The contract: admission comes with a written service contract. You should get a copy of the internal rules when you sign.
For an ama, ask to see her Segurança Social authorisation, and ask how many children she looks after, counting her own. Visit her home at the time of day your child would be there.
From creche to jardim de infância
Plan the next step before your child turns 3. Applications for a public jardim de infância go through the Portal das Matrículas, where you log in with a Chave Móvel Digital or a Cartão de Cidadão. You can also apply in person at the school. The enrolment window opens once a year, usually in spring, and the dates are set each year.
Segurança Social's rule on the handover is clear. Children who turn 3 between 16 September and 31 December must apply for pre-school. They can only stay on in the creche if they don't get a pre-school place.
In public and non-profit jardins de infância, the educational part is free. Lunch and after-hours care are a separate family-support component, paid according to income. Private and IPSS jardins de infância take applications directly, so contact them yourself. If you're looking at an international school instead, the early-years class is often where you'd start.
The order that works
- Get your NISS and your NIF, and register with a centro de saúde.
- Decide where you'll live and work, since your parishes decide which creches count as local.
- In pregnancy, or as soon as you arrive, shortlist creches and visit them with the checklist above.
- Submit your request on the Segurança Social portal as soon as you're able to, with up to three creches in order.
- Ask private creches you like whether they're in the bolsa.
- Line up a fallback: an ama, a private creche or a nanny.
- If you hire a nanny directly, register them with Segurança Social and get insurance before day one.
- In the year your child turns 3, apply for jardim de infância in the enrolment window.
How Locallista helps
Childcare is personal, and doing it in a second language adds a layer of worry. We're a directory of English-speaking local service providers in Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid, built so you can find someone you can actually talk to.
Every business is screened before it's listed, reviews are phone-verified, and the ranking reflects real expat experience, not who paid the most. It's free to browse and free to get in touch. When you're ready, find a vetted English-speaking nanny in Lisbon, with part-time, full-time, newborn and share-care options. For evenings and occasional help, try an English-speaking babysitter in Lisbon. And if you're still arranging the move from abroad, an English-speaking relocation company in Lisbon can help with the paperwork and settling in.
Frequently asked questions
Is creche free in Lisbon?
Can foreign families get a free creche place in Portugal?
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When should I start looking for a creche in Lisbon?
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What is an ama in Portugal?
Do I have to register a nanny with Segurança Social?
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