This paper examines changes in social attitudes toward preschool institutional care in the Czech Republic over the last 50 years and discusses whether the present economic situation enables Czech families to decide which type of preschool care to choose for their children. The historic period is divided into two time periods for analysis: (1) the real socialism period (1950s to 1980s); and (2) the 1990s. The socialism period was characterized by the introduction of nursery schools and kindergartens to give mothers of small children a chance for full involvement in the labor force and resulted in well over 90 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds attending such institutions. The intellectual and ideological bent of these schools resulted in many parents abandoning them following political changes in 1989, as many nursery schools and kindergarten became subject to professional and public criticism. Children-friendlier kindergartens have been developing since the mid-1990s, with nursery schools almost disappearing. Findings from Czech respondents in the 1991 European Value Study reflected frustrations stemming from the socialist period when mothers were forced to work and did not trust communist child care. Findings from the 1999 survey suggest that current kindergartens meet parents' expectations more than previously and that working parents have become less apprehensive of using the services. Further, attitudes toward women's roles in the family and workplace are slowly changing, with many Czechs favoring traditional households. (KB)