Childcare available for people in crucial sectors

Please note: this news item was published on March 23. Read more about the current approach to tackling coronavirus in the Netherlands

It is essential that people doing crucial jobs can continue to go to work. So childcare will still be available for the children of people working in one of the crucial sectors.

Families in which only one of the parents works in a crucial sector are being asked to look after their children themselves. If this is not possible, they can send their children to school and/or their childcare provider (day nursery, out-of-school care or childminder). It is not a hard requirement that both parents work in a crucial sector. For the government, it is important that people working in crucial sectors can continue to work, and that childcare is available for them.

Many children who would normally go to childcare are now at home. Some people have questions about this, since they are paying for services, but are making no use of them. However, if you are receiving childcare benefit, you need to continue paying the entire bill for childcare in order to remain eligible for the benefit. You must also make the co-payment to the childcare organisation. We are currently in consultation with the finance ministry on possible reimbursement.

For  more information on how the coronavirus outbreak affects childcare, go to Rijksoverheid.nl (Dutch).