One in three municipalities raises after-school childcare prices: “Affordability depends on where you live”

Parents in one in three Flemish municipalities will pay more for after-school childcare under a new system beginning tomorrow. Poverty groups warn that affordability could depend on a family’s postcode.

The system aims to provide quality care and leisure activities for children aged 3 to 12 before and after school and during holidays. Municipalities will largely be responsible for putting the plans into practice, but a survey by the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities found that more than one-third consider the task difficult or impossible to deliver with current funding.

Flanders distributes 200 million euros annually among 285 cities and municipalities. Nine out of 10 municipalities add their own funding, and about half contribute more than 250,000 euros. Those contributions have helped keep prices unchanged in slightly more than half of municipalities.

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Affordability depends very much on where you live, and whether you can afford that after-school childcare.

Prices are nevertheless rising in one-third of municipalities. Dendermonde is increasing its charge from 1 euro to 1.50 euros per half-hour. In Mechelen, some parents will pay twice as much, with the fee rising from 0.75 euros to 1.50 euros. Schools in Kortrijk may charge up to 2 euros per half-hour. Prices fall in only about 2% of municipalities.

Nathalie Debast of the municipal association said cities and towns support the policy and are expanding cooperation among schools, associations and childcare providers. She identified financing as the biggest challenge. Heidi Degerickx of the Network Against Poverty warned that families’ access to care could vary sharply by municipality.

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We see that cities and municipalities fully support that goal and are now investing much more in cooperation between schools, associations and childcare initiatives. But financing remains the biggest challenge.