End of childcare allowance in sight: reimbursement no longer goes to parents, but to childcare

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The childcare allowance affair has convinced the government that the childcare system needs to be overhauled.

In that affair, parents were wrongly classified as fraudsters. They had to pay back large amounts of benefits received and got into big problems. The affair led to the fall of the Rutte III cabinet. The handling of the affair is still ongoing.

Deposit

Parents currently receive an advance in the form of childcare allowance, which they may have to partially repay at the end of the year. This happens if something has changed in the income of parents.

This creates uncertainty among parents, notes Minister of Social Affairs Karien van Gennip. “The government wants to prevent people from unnecessarily having to deal with high recoveries, one of the key points from the parliamentary surveys. That is why we have worked hard in recent years on a new financing system for childcare, with more certainty and less risk for parents.”

Government compensation

In the future organization, which the new cabinet will have to decide on, childcare organizations will apply for government compensation instead of parents. They then pay a personal contribution. This gives them a ‘certain bill, without an uncertain advance payment of childcare allowance in return’.

Whether a parent meets the conditions is tested in advance, instead of at the end of the year. This should prevent high recoveries.

The government points out that research shows that more certainty can lead to an increase in the use of childcare. More parents are also going to work.