The company that produces Stint cargo vehicles announced it plans to inspect all 3,500 units currently on roadways after a fatal accident last week left four children dead. The accident took place in Oss, when a Stint belonging to a daycare operator crossed onto railroad tracks and was struck by an oncoming train.
A fifth child and the adult operator of the vehicle were hospitalized with serious injuries.
The company that produces Stint cargo vehicles announced it plans to inspect all 3,500 units currently on roadways after a fatal accident last week left four children dead. The accident took place in Oss, when a Stint belonging to a daycare operator crossed onto railroad tracks and was struck by an oncoming train.
A fifth child and the adult operator of the vehicle were hospitalized with serious injuries.
Multiple childcare organizations stopped using their Stint cargo bikes to transport kids following a fatal railway accident involving such a vehicle in Oss on Thursday morning. Four children between the ages of 4 and 8 were killed. An 11-year-old girl and a 32-year-old woman were seriously injured.
Forty percent of parents think that childcare is too expensive, according to a survey by social and cultural planning office SCP. What Dutch parents want is good, but above all affordable childcare, the researchers conclude, ANP reports.
The SCP researchers surveyed 1,800 parents of babies and toddlers. They found that many parents do not send their child to childcare because they find it too expensive. According to the SCP, those parents may not know exactly how expensive childcare really is and therefore have a distorted mage of the costs.
The Dutch government will re-examine whether it is possible to allow daycare centers to refuse children who haven't been vaccinated. A parliamentary majority, led by the three largest government parties, supports this, RTL Nieuws reports.
"Childcare must be a safe place. I understand the concerns about decreasing vaccination, that also affects childcare", State Secretary Tamara van Ark of Social Affairs said on Twitter. "That is why I want to investigate possibilities for organizations to refuse childcare for non-vaccinated children."
Bart C., a 28-year-old former pedagogical employee for childcare institution Patrou, sexually abused children at an after school care in De Bilt to indulge his fetish, he said in court on Tuesday. He said that he regrets that he abused the children for his fantasies, NU.nl reports.
For the first time in years the number of kids attending childcare institutions in the Netherlands is increasing. But childcare institutions themselves are still worried. They fear that a new law with stricter requirements will lead to a new wave of bankruptcies, Saskia Speelman of the interest group for the childcare sector said to AD.
Last year the government paid childcare allowance for 823 thousand kids, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Thursday. That is a massive increase compared to the 764 thousand kids who attended childcare in 2015.
Public health service GGD is concerned about the quality of more than half of the nurseries, kindergartens and after-school cares in the Netherlands. They have problems ranging from security standards not being in order, not enough carers or serious complaints. Child care in poor neighborhoods are worse off than in the richer neighborhoods, the Volkskrant reports based on its own investigation into 3 thousand establisments.
Three quarters of Dutch children under the age of three years attended some form of daycare in 2014, thereby putting the Netherlands at the head of Europe with most toddlers in daycare, Statistics Netherlands reports.
For the first time since 2012 the number of children attending daycare in the Netherlands increased. According to Statistics Netherlands, 767 thousand children went to a daycare, childminder or after school care last year, an increase of 12 thousand compared to 2014.
A group of parents and parents' organization BOinK want child care directors to be legally prosecuted if the knowingly fail to comply with safety standards. They are therefore pressing charges against Amsterdam creche 24/7 Kids this week in the hopes of setting a precedent for childcare
Thousands of refugee children in the Netherlands have little access to childcare and education. They also often have to move from one shelter to another more than once. All of these factors have a negative impact on their development.
The Netherlands is emerging from the crisis stronger. Things are going better than expected, but still not good enough, according to Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem while presenting the Budget Memorandum to the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament. As per tradition, Dijsselbloem presented the Budget in the same briefcase his predecessor Lieftinck used to present the budget in 1946 after World War II. Dijsselbloem called the briefcase "a small symbol of recovery".
All parties in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, are delighted that the government has earmarked more money for childcare. The government can therefore count on broad parliamentary support for the increased child care allowance.
The Cabinet announced on Monday night that 290 million euros has been set aside to increase childcare benefits. Industry association Kinderopvang expects that this could create some 8 thousand jobs in childcare.
Childcare organizations need to focus more on the development of children and babies. Both the quality of childcare staff and the care of infants must improve, Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs wrote to the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, on Tuesday.
The government's intention to invest an extra 250 million euros in childcare as part of the new tax plan, could create 7 thousand childcare jobs in the Netherlands.
A 3 year old boy was seriously injured in an accident at a physiotherapy practice in Papendrecht on Friday morning. According to the police, a treatment table collapsed and trapped the boy.
Children who attend daycare run a much greater risk of stomach flu (gastroenteritis). On average they visit the doctor twice as often - and are also twice as often hospitalized due to complications - as children who do not attend daycare.
The Cabinet is working together with the United Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and healthcare providers to find solutions to make sure that vulnerable children aren't left without specialized childcare next year, the NOS report.
The Netherlands treasury believes that €60 million has disappeared due to mistakes and fraud in childcare subsidies. These mistakes have cost €443 million, BN De Stem writes.
Parent association Boink thinks that children should be turned away from daycares if their parents make the conscious choice not to vaccinate them against illnesses such as measles.
Parents work less because day care is becoming increasingly expensive, according to a survey by the FNV (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging) (Dutch Trade Union) and the foundation for Working Parents. One out of four couples have cut hours and in some cases a parent stopped working altogether.
