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🇧🇪 Belgium /Culture & Society

More than half of childcare applications in Limburg do not result in a place

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A total of 54.2% of applications for infant and toddler childcare in Limburg failed to secure a place last year, according to Unizo Limburg.
  • The employers’ organization says the shortage limits parents’ ability to work and calls for more places, funding and flexible opening hours.
  • Results vary sharply by municipality, while planned staffing changes could worsen the shortage unless facilities and personnel increase.

More than half of all applications for childcare for babies and toddlers in Belgium’s Limburg province failed to secure a place last year. Unizo Limburg says the shortage is affecting both families and employers.

Childcare is crucial to combining work and family life.

— Patrick ButeneersThe Unizo Limburg representative called for more affordable, quality childcare places.

The employers’ organization is asking Flemish Welfare Minister Caroline Gennez to provide additional childcare places. It also wants more flexibility, because some parents wait months, receive fewer days than requested or need care outside standard office hours. Some families applied in several municipalities, meaning the figures may count some children more than once.

The local figures differ widely. In Heers, only 13.8% of applications resulted in a place within the municipality. The figure reached 77% in As, while Hasselt recorded 51% and Genk 65%. Unizo cautions that the figures are not directly comparable. Hasselt, for example, receives applications from parents who live elsewhere but work in the city.

Without enough quality, affordable places, parents find it difficult to work or run a business.

— Patrick ButeneersHe described the effect of the shortage on parents and employers.

Hasselt officials acknowledge the pressure. Alderman Astrid Franssens said many parents cannot return to work immediately after parental leave because they cannot find childcare. The city added 31 places last year, but the waiting list remains long. In Genk, waiting times can still reach one year to 18 months, according to alderman Anniek Nagels.

Many parents cannot return to work immediately after their parental leave because they cannot find childcare.

— Astrid FranssensThe Hasselt alderman described the impact of the shortage on families.

Unizo says Limburg receives too few subsidized childcare places relative to its needs because funding is concentrated in larger cities. The maximum number of children per carer will fall from nine to seven next year. Unizo says the change should improve children’s well-being but could deepen the shortage unless more places and staff arrive at the same time. It also wants simpler rules for opening nurseries, whose operators face demanding requirements and uncertainty over long-term subsidies.

The waiting lists still stretch to a year or a year and a half.

— Anniek NagelsThe Genk alderman described waiting times in the city.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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