This is stated by Secretary of State Jurgen Nobel (Childcare) in a letter to the House of Representatives.
‘With the current staff shortages, we need all hands on deck in childcare. Childminder care is a solution for parents seeking flexible care or a home-like environment for their child. With the proposed measures, we are doing everything we can to ensure sufficient and high-quality childminder care – now and in the future. So that the work remains attractive for the childminders themselves’, said Nobel.
Childminder care plays an important role within the Dutch childcare system. Approximately 75,000 children use it. Parents consciously choose this small-scale and flexible form of care, for example, due to irregular working hours. In 2005, childcare allowance became available for parents using childminder care, and the number of childminders increased significantly. Many informal care that was already provided became formal care by a childminder. Five years later, when requirements were imposed on the professionalism of childminders and childminder agencies, the decline began.
New research into this decline, commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), shows that childminders often stop due to increasing administrative burdens, financial considerations, and personal circumstances such as retirement. Almost a quarter of childminders are over 60. Researchers find that in shrinking areas - regions with a declining population - the supply of childminder care does not decrease more than in other areas.
Training of new childminders
Together with the sector, a package of measures has been developed to maintain and strengthen the supply of childminder care. Better information about laws and regulations will be provided on Rijksoverheid.nl, and existing rules will be scrapped or relaxed where possible to reduce administrative burdens. Industry organizations will actively support childminders in determining their rates.
To make the profession of childminder more attractive, the government will provide subsidies for the training of new childminders in the coming years. This covers 90% of training costs. In 2025, €3.2 million will be available for childcare and education. There will also be attention to quality, ensuring that childminder care is safe and contributes to the development of children. A bill on this has been passed by the House of Representatives.
With a new labor market campaign, co-financed by the Ministry of SZW, the sector actively recruits potential childminders. There will also be more effort to increase awareness of this form of care among parents and professionals.