Over 56,000 more kids attend daycare in Netherlands

A total of 736 thousand children attended daycare, after school care or another form of child care facility in the Netherlands during the second quarter of this year. That is an increase of over 56 thousand compared to the second quarter of last year. The number of working women is now at the highest level since 2011, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment announced on Monday.

"It is great to see that more and more mothers are working and that their children can then go to a high quality and affordable care facility", Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs and Employment said. "In this time they can playfully learn a lot and also play with other children. This will hold a lot of benefits for them later. Good for their language and good for their development."

In the second quarter of 2017, a total of 293 thousand kids went to day care, 341 thousand kids went to after school care and 121 thousand kids were cared for by childminders. The number of daycare centers increased by 628 to 7,643 and the number of after school centers increased by 238 to 6,733. The number of childminders decreased by nearly 1,400 compared to the second quarter of 2016.