June 10, 2021
All parents should be able to afford to put their children to formal childcare, even if they are not working, government advisory body SER said on Thursday.
SER, which is made up of lay, union and employer organisations, has drawn up suggestions for reforming the childcare sector in the Netherlands which it hopes will become part of the next government’s strategy.
Currently childcare is too expensive for many parents but it can play an important part of child development, SER said. In particular, the children of unemployed parents run a greater risk of starting school with a disadvantage and access to childcare would help ensure equality of opportunity.