Childcare for some of up to 970 euros per year more expensive: « Government is praising saving on parents »

To illuminate the burden for large families, there is now something like the ‘child discount’. The parents still pay the normal price for their oldest child in the (income -related) crèche, but for all children after that they receive a discount per child per day. This year it is 4.05 euros.

The Flemish government now wants to reform that system. The discount would only apply to families with several children who are in the day care center at the same time. So far that is not the case. Now the discount continues to apply until the children are 12 years old. In other words, for example, those who have a 10-year-old and a brother or sister in the day care center, still gets a discount for the latter.

Majority

Flemish MP Lise Vandecasteele (PvdA) has requested how many people will be affected by this. The answer by Minister of Welzijn Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) shows that it would be around 50,000 people. Last year there were almost 50,000 families (49,160) with children up to 12 years old who were not simultaneously in the day care center. In addition, there were 11,057 families with children who were simultaneously in the day care center.

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In principle, nothing would change for the latter group. But in the majority of cases the discount will disappear. Vandecasteele also calculated how much money these families are missing. In a year with 240 days in the day care center, this amounts to 972 euros per child.

« Not logical »

The purpose of this reform is to save 30 million. That money would be used to create the promised 10,000 extra places in childcare. The cabinet of Minister Gennez says that this reform will be gradually happening. « For families who are entitled to this discount today, nothing changes, » she says. « That also remains the case for those who have several children in the day care center – which is a huge cost. But it is not logical that that discount continues, even if the oldest child is already going to the kindergarten. Money that is intended for children in childcare must also end up with them. »

« It is not logical that the discount continues, even if the oldest child is already going to the kindergarten class »

Cabinet Welfare Minister Gennez

But Vandecasteele sees that differently. She argues for keeping this discount. « The government is turning off its savings on parents, » she says. « However, we know that the high cost price is a threshold for parents to use childcare. » She is not alone in that either. The Family Association is also opposed to this reform. « It is good that there will be extra places in childcare, » says spokeswoman Lien Swinnen. « But what the Flemish Government gives with one hand takes it back with the other. The financial pressure on families does not only come from income, but also from family size. »

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The Future Group Childcare, an expert group that advised the previous government, also argued in its report for the preservation of the child discount. The experts saw that as the only way in which the number of children is now taken into account. They even suggested to expand that to all families with children up to the age of 18.