To combine childcare with work and care in a safe and effective way, parents can apply for a financial allowance from the government. This financial allowance from the government enables parents and caregivers to combine work and care for children in an affordable way. The government’s financial allowance offers parents and caregivers the opportunity to (partially) finance the care of a child or children. Through the government contribution, parents can continue to participate in the labor process and are positively stimulated by this financial allowance to continue participating in the labor process for as long and for as many hours as possible. This financial contribution from the government, for the care of a child in a recognized daycare center or by a childminder, is called childcare allowance.
Childcare allowance
The childcare allowance aims to enable parents of young children to participate in the labor process as much and for as long as possible. The childcare allowance is therefore intended to offer parents the opportunity to combine work and care as best as possible. The government believes that without this childcare allowance, the costs (i.e. childcare) for work will become so high that parents decide to end childcare for a child or children. Another possibility that worries the government is the option that parents decide to work less in the interest of caring for the child or children.
Source: Copta, Rgbstock
Government contribution
The costs of childcare are very high for the government. The government therefore believes that financial resources must be used efficiently. The government also found that the existing scheme for the financial contribution to childcare costs was susceptible to fraud. The scale of the fraud was so worrying that the government had to decide in 2010 to take measures to combat improper use and abuse of the scheme.
Term of the application
In 2011, the government decided that, with effect from 1 January 2012, the period for applying for childcare allowance was limited to the month of submission and the month before the month of the application. Until January 1, 2012, the term was actually unlimited and was often linked to the moment of filing the income tax return for national insurance contributions. The government hopes to limit fraud by changing the application period as of January 1, 2012.
Fraudulent applications
People who submitted applications in good faith for a contribution to childcare were affected by the changes in government rules. Although there is understanding for the government measure to limit fraudulent applications to a minimum, there is insufficient understanding for the way in which the government changed the scheme and actually unnecessarily harmed the people who acted in good faith by changing the application procedure.
General Childcare Consultation
The General Childcare Consultation has protested against the very short implementation period of the change in the rules for applying for childcare allowance. In practice it has become apparent that the period between the discussion in the Senate and the House of Representatives and the intended introduction date (1 January 2012) was very short.
Communication
Although the government was of the opinion in 2011 that it had communicated sufficiently about the measure, in practice this turned out to be experienced very differently by the parents and caregivers involved. Based on the experience with the tightening of the application rules, it was found that a large group of parents and caregivers were deprived of access to childcare in 2012 and 2013. Before January 1, 2012, this large group of parents could have regularly used the rules that apply to qualify for childcare allowance. Therefore, in 2012 and 2013, the rules for applying for childcare allowance apply as they applied before January 1, 2012.
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