Trade union wants free childcare for all parents

Trade union FNV wants the Netherlands to make childcare a free basic benefit for all parents. This will benefit all employees and all parents, FNV vice president Tuur Elzinga said to news wire ANP.

"Free childcare would be the best answer to the childcare allowance affair," Elzinga said, referring to a fraud witch hunt by the Tax Authority that left thousands of Dutch families with severe financial problems and resulted in the Rutte III Cabinet collapsing on Friday. "All employees will benefit from this. No more witch hunts for suspected fraudsters, who are not aware of harm. With terrible, traumatic and dire financial consequences."

Elzinga believes this will benefit all parents. "They can combine work and care much better with it. It is a sensible investment in our joint future. Peace in the tent. In your home, in your family, at work. Costs for childcare are no longer have to be an obstacle."

Accessible and affordable childcare is often also mentioned as a key step in reducing the gender wage gap on the labor market. A study by social planning office SCP last year showed that women's wages on average drop by half after the birth of a child, while men's wages are unaffected.