Four days of free childcare per week? Many parents are not waiting for it
This is evident from a poll by the Stichting Voor Werkende Ouders. They had 46,653 parents fill in a voting guide to find out what is important to them. That is important information for political parties at the formation table. It turns out that free childcare is not high on the wish list at all. 52 percent of the parents agree, but 43 percent of the respondents do not at all. 5 percent of parents say they have no opinion on this topic.
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Surprising figures, according to Marjet Winsemius, director of the Stichting Voor Werkende Ouders. ‘We were also surprised at this outcome and once asked parents why they are against this. Then you hear that many parents see the idea of four days of free childcare as an obligation. They also wonder at the expense of what such an arrangement would go, ‘she explains to the AD.
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‘Free childcare does not exist’
Last year, the cabinet calculated that publicly paid childcare for children aged 0 to 12 would cost the state some 5.4 billion extra. This is in addition to the current childcare allowance (3.3 billion). The VVD indicated earlier this year that ‘free childcare does not exist’. The party does think that parents should receive an extra childcare allowance of a total of 700 million euros. D66 wants 4 days of free childcare for children under 4 years old and wants to make out-of-school care for children aged 4 to 12 completely free. Price tag: 5.6 billion.
Great transition
Loes Ypma of the Branch Association Social Childcare sees the plan as useful. ‘We would like to see that all children up to the age of 12 can go to childcare or out-of-school care for two days. The easiest thing to say is: all children are entitled to five days, but that is a huge transition. So we want to aim for a situation where all children have the same access for a more limited period. ‘ According to Ypma, this will reduce inequality. As a second step, she would like to see that the rest of the childcare is also made free for working parents, so that the childcare allowance can be taken off the table.
In the near future, decisions will be taken at the formation table. Instead of free childcare, parents especially have ardent wishes for a maximum class size and free tutoring through school.
Source: AD
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