Childcare more expensive as institutions announce additional 4% rate hike

Parents can expect to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for their kids’ childcare this year. Several childcare organizations announced a second rate increase for this year, by an average of 4 percent, RTL Nieuws reports.

At the start of the year, childcare rates rose at an unprecedented rate due to the high inflation. Prices increased 8.5 percent in January. This mid-year increase is due to the wage increase in the sector’s new collective agreement, which was concluded in February.

There’s little for parents to do but “swallow the increase,” Gjalt Jellesma of BOink, the interest group for parents in childcare, told RTL. “You can’t leave due to waiting lists in other places. Parents’ position has never been weaker than it is now.”

BOink understands the increase. The government increased the hourly rate for which parents receive allowance only slightly, Jellesma said. “That appears not to be enough for childcare organizations.” They are also facing increased rent and energy prices and have to pay for that one way or another, Jellesma said.

The parents RTL asked for a response mainly seemed resigned about the second rate hike. “In principle, I understand it,” one father said. “The heater also has to be on for the children here. Although it does make it more difficult for parents. You can’t just say, then, I’ll go to another daycare. I understand the organization itself that they pass on the costs, but I had expected more support from the government.”

The higher rates mean parents will have to pay more for childcare from their own pockets. This year, the maximum hourly rate for which parents can receive childcare allowance is 9.12 euros for childcare and 7.85 euros for out-of-school care. The average hourly rate for childcare and after-school care is 5.2 and 9.5 percent above this, respectively, according to a previous study by BOink.

Last week the Cabinet announced that it would increase the childcare allowance by 6.01 percent next year, making up for part of the above price differences. But childcare organizations will likely also increase their rates again in January.