Two of the Cabinet's key advisory bodies have come out against the Cabinet's plan to make daycare and after school care virtually free for everyone. The plan will actually increase inequality of opportunity, and does little to ensure that more adults are able to enter the workforce, said the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP) and the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). A system that mainly includes support for lower income households and also for those who are unemployed would be more helpful, they said.
The Dutch government failed to achieve most of the targets it set for more diversity in its workplace. And even if the targets are achieved, the government workforce is still significantly less diverse than society, NU.nl reports based on the confidential Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring Report from the end of 2022.
Tens of thousands of people are still suffering from long-term health problems after an infection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The approach to helping these people must be improved, said the Social Impact Team (MIT). The group of advisors told the Cabinet that there should be more knowledge about long-term Covid-19 symptoms and that they should have better access to more services, including healthcare and education.
The kinderbijslag childcare benefit will be reduced by 3 percent in the coming quarters as a result of falling energy prices. The subsidy amount made available to parents changes with the consumer price index. The decision relates only to the kinderbijslag, a contribution towards childcare costs paid quarterly, and is separate from subsidies for daycare or after-school care. Last year, energy prices rose sharply due to the war in Ukraine, resulting in record-high inflation. As a result, the kinderbijslag increased by more than 16 percent.