Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Children playing at a daycare center
Children playing at a daycare center - Credit: Photo: AllaSerebrina/DepositPhotos
Business
childcare
daycare
SER
childcare allowance
Bas ter Weel
Thursday, June 10, 2021 - 08:41
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Make childcare cheaper so that all toddlers can attend at least twice a week, Council says

All children up to the age of four should be able to attend daycare at least two days a week, even if they have a stay at home parent. To achieve this, childcare must be made more affordable, the social and economic council SER, the government's main advisory body on the economy, said in a report, RTL Nieuws reports.

At present, parents are only entitled to childcare allowance if both parents are working. The SER wants to drop that requirement, so that kids with a stay at home parent can also go to daycare. "If we really want to change the way the labor market works, we will have to make childcare more inclusive, more accessible, simpler, and more affordable," Bas ter Weel of the SER said to the broadcaster.

The SER did not advise the government to make childcare free. But the government should make a "financially accessible offer" - reimburse a large part of the childcare costs, the council said.

The SER believes that if childcare is more accessible to more families, more parents may decide to return to work. To ensure that a parent's decision on whether or not to work is not dependent on childcare, the SER advised the government to eventually make two days a week of childcare possible for all children up to the age of 13. 

The council also advised that out-of-school care should be more closely aligned with school hours, to make the transition from school to care simpler. Having schools close at the same time every day can already help with that, the SER said.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Royal Palace Amsterdam pays tribute to Princess Alexia's birthday
  • Shisha lounge in Leiden fired at for second time
  • Internships in healthcare sector still hard to come by for MBO students
  • Aruba must quickly reduce government debt of 3 billion euros
  • Cabinet will reveal plans for 2 new nuclear power stations this week
  • Hundreds of passengers evacuated from stranded train; some NS delays on Sunday

Top stories

  • Hundreds of passengers evacuated from stranded train; some NS delays on Sunday
  • Suspect apprehended after getting stolen camper stuck in Maas river
  • German police arrest Dutch man who mailed envelopes of drugs
  • Regional bus drivers strike in Groningen, Almere, Waalwijk
  • Extra Covid-19 measures not yet necessary: Van Dissel
  • Farmers demonstrate in many places, dump straw bale at minister's house

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content