Childcare can be cheaper on quiet days, such as Wednesdays and Fridays. This is stated in a letter to Parliament from Minister Van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment). The minister also wants newcomers to be able to work at reception locations.
Staff shortages in childcare are still high. The influx of employees is still growing, but that growth is leveling off. Meanwhile, waiting lists in all types of shelter are increasing. BOinK, the interest group for parents in childcare, recently spoke of ‘a funfair in childcare’. Parents are constantly confronted with closures, for example due to staff shortages, and then have to search diligently in their own network for informal care for their offspring.
The cabinet is now coming up with a series of measures to offer the sector solace, such as cheaper childcare on Wednesdays and Fridays or extra activities on those days. This is because traditionally less care is taken, especially in after-school care, because many people have their part-time day and school days are shorter.
Seducing parents
Incidentally, there are already childcare organizations that try to entice parents by charging 5 to 10 percent less per hour on quiet days. So reports daycare center Jansen and Jansen, with six locations in Utrecht, on the website: ‘In about 90 percent of our registrations, care is requested on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. That makes it difficult to fill the less popular days, Wednesday and Friday.’
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Together with her education colleague, Van Gennip is looking at how ‘combination jobs’ between childcare and education can be stimulated
With the price reduction on these days, organizations hope that parents will be more inclined to purchase one of these days, so that the occupancy rate is also very stable on Wednesday and Friday and childcare can serve more parents in total. That is also the intention: the Ministry of Social Affairs assumes that in general every child place can offer childcare for an average of 1.9 children, according to a report from Berenschot.
Furthermore, Minister Van Gennip wants qualified newcomers (including status holders and displaced persons, such as Ukrainians) to be able to work at reception centers with children who speak a different language and that unqualified newcomers can contribute as ‘group help’. According to her, this reduces the workload of ordinary pedagogical staff and enables the newcomers to learn Dutch and gain work experience.
Also known interventions
The minister also comes with already known interventions. For example, it is extending the previous measure whereby trainee professionals can count for 50 percent in the daily staffing until 1 July 2024. Van Gennip is also looking at possibilities to encourage lateral entry to childcare, something the sector itself has been working on for some time. In order to ‘enthusiastize’ people for working in childcare, the ministry wants to once again provide the sector with a money pot for a communication campaign.
In addition, the cabinet wants to relax the rules in childcare, so that the workload for existing staff decreases. For example, the registration of the maximum number of children for which one pedagogical employee is responsible can be tinkered with. This is called the professional-child ratio. Or the rule that, if a child is present, ‘at least one permanent face of the child in the group’ is working on that day. This is called the fixed-face criterion.
Finally: research shows that many employees in reception want to work more hours. The sector will therefore start a trial in mid-September to increase the part-time factor. Together with her teaching colleague, Van Gennip is also looking at how ‘combination jobs’ between childcare and education can be stimulated.
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Good start
Since 2015, the number of employees in childcare has grown to about 115,000 employees, an increase of 45 percent. Despite this, the childcare sector still needs about 5000 employees across the board to function properly. These measures should contribute to that.
Branch organization BK believes that the minister ‘thinks very constructively with the sector’ about the large staff shortage. However, the organization denounces the policy of this cabinet to make childcare almost free within a few years. “That will lead to an unparalleled increase in demand. As a result, the shortages of now 5000 employees will increase to about 50,000 employees. As a result, the accessibility of childcare is really at stake.” BK also sees points in the current plan where the cabinet is not taking any steps. “The most important thing is that working more hours should actually pay off.”
The Branch Association of Social Childcare (BMK) reacts enthusiastically to the proposals. ‘The minister is in line with the urgent signals from the sector and is making a good start with this! By stimulating combination jobs with education, we solve several problems’, the association writes. He also emphasizes that it is important to relax the rules, while maintaining high quality. With Prinsjesdag, BMK hopes to increase government rates for childcare. ‘With the agreement that employers will use this 100 percent in the coming collective labor agreement for a salary increase.’
The minister is in line with the urgent signals from the sector and is making a good start!
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