Childcare is often seen as a matter of practical supervision while parents work. But researchers and economists have agreed for years: childcare is much more than that. It also plays an important role in promoting equality of opportunity, because children develop together and parents are able to work. Yet reducing inequality is not a given: childcare can be expensive, and not everyone finds a location that works for them right away. But what do we know about inequality in childcare?
What Does Research Say About Development?
American Nobel laureate in economics James Heckman demonstrated that investing in childcare for children from disadvantaged families yields 7 to 13 percent return per dollar. This pays off especially in practice: less school dropout, better health, higher employment rates in adulthood, and lower societal costs.
His core message is clear: the earliest years matter most. Skills build on previously learned skills, and those who miss out on a stimulating environment in those first years fall behind in ways that are difficult to catch up on later. It is precisely children who are read to less at home, receive less language exposure, or grow up in stressful environments who benefit most from high-quality childcare.
Dutch research confirms this. The quality of Dutch childcare is internationally regarded as good, particularly the interaction between caregiver and child. A caregiver has on average only eight children in their care and gives them their full attention. This allows for individual attention that is not always available at home.
The Problem: Childcare Reaches the Wrong Children
This is where it gets complicated. The very children who would benefit most from childcare attend it the least. Over 70 percent of children with highly educated parents go to childcare. For children with lower-educated parents, that figure is 43 percent. Yet only 6 percent of lower-educated parents consider childcare important for their child's development, the same research shows.
This is partly due to awareness and trust, but certainly also the system itself. Dutch childcare is built around working parents. Those who do not work receive little or no financial support for childcare. And it is precisely in families where little or no work is done that child poverty occurs most frequently.
Free Childcare: A Good Plan?
The plan to make childcare almost free for working parents sounds appealing, but the CPB (Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) and SCP (Netherlands Institute for Social Research) showed that the effect on increased employment is minimal: only an increase of 0.2 percent. The reason is that mainly middle and high-income families will pay less, while these already have high labor participation rates.
At the same time, childcare becomes less accessible for low-income families. Due to the increased demand that the plan brings, longer waiting lists and price increases emerge. Parents with low incomes, who already receive 96 percent reimbursement, gain nothing from this but are hit hardest by the resulting scarcity.
How Should It Be Done?
Researchers point to Sweden and Flanders as examples. In Sweden, every child, regardless of whether their parents work, is entitled to a place in childcare. Usage is therefore much more evenly distributed across income groups. In Flanders, parents pay an income-related fee that is set once a year, providing certainty and accessibility for everyone.
As long as childcare is only accessible to children of working parents, the system does little to combat inequality.
Getting Started with Your Own Choice
As a parent, you cannot change the entire system, but you can make conscious choices. When choosing a daycare center (kinderdagverblijf/KDV) or after-school care (BSO), look not only at what feels right, but also at what the location structurally does for the development of all children. Ask about their experience with VVE (preschool and early childhood education), how they handle differences between children, and how they involve parents who may be less likely to speak up.
Want to know how a location in your neighborhood scores on quality and what the Municipal Health Service (GGD) report says? On kiddie.nl you will find summaries of inspection reports and can compare locations on the points that are relevant to your situation. This way, you make a choice that not only works practically, but also contributes to equal opportunities for your child.