Payment problems among families are more common and since the summer this has also been noticeable in childcare. Debt collection organizations GGN and Flanderijn see that the number of outstanding amounts they claim on behalf of childcare has increased by 15 to 20 percent since last summer. This concerns thousands of parents.
Childcare is one of the last bills that people neglect, because parents cannot do without the care for their children. Defaulters are more likely to default on health insurance or telephone subscriptions.
“But now we see that many parents are unable to pay for childcare,” says Flanderijn director Michel van Leeuwen. He sees a 15 percent increase since last summer.
He finds this increase difficult to explain. “Childcare rates have been increased by 5 to 10 percent in most organizations (compensation via allowances also increased, but less quickly, ed.). But these payment problems seem to come from the summer, because there is a whole period before parents end up with a collection agency.”
GGN sees an increase of about 20 percent in payments it must collect for childcare organizations. “We are regularly approached by shelter organizations from the entire sector, big or small, it doesn’t matter,” says director Wim van Limpt.
“We are only at the beginning. This will only get worse in the coming months, because after the higher energy costs and expensive groceries, higher childcare rates will also hurt”, predicts van Limpt. “I wonder if the government sees the seriousness of this social problem. If people can no longer bring children, their income may also disappear. While they need more income.”
‘We call parents who don’t pay on time’
Before the collection agency comes along, childcare organizations are already trying to agree on payment arrangements. This way, children can still stay at the shelter. They do this, for example, at Partou, a large childcare organization with seven hundred locations. They have noticed a slight increase in the number of payment arrangements for several months.
“We keep a close eye on it,” says a spokesperson for Partou. “For parents who have difficulty paying, we proactively offer payment arrangements. Parents can also apply online themselves. We call some of the parents who do not pay on time to ask if we can help with anything.”
The Childcare sector association has not yet received any signals about this increase. “It is reasonable, however, that parents can get into trouble due to high inflation and increased energy costs.”
Childcare organizations Humankind and Wij zijn JONG have not yet noticed an increase in payment problems. They do indicate that they will talk to parents if there are problems. “Then we can often come to an arrangement. Only later does a collection agency come into view,” says Humankind director Robin Alma.
Parents come to a collection agency with larger arrears
GGN sees that childcare organizations are very helpful to parents. “Employees there are involved and try to help. They know the parents personally and therefore do not easily go to a bailiff. They first try to postpone several times,” says Van Limpt.
“But we would rather see them forwarded faster, because we see them coming to us with larger payment arrears. Those who cannot pay for childcare often have several arrears, such as with the rent and energy bill. It is better to deal with all those in good time together. open bills to get started.”
‘Even if parents drive an expensive car’
The collection organizations also see well-earning parents getting into trouble. “Increasingly, this concerns couples who sometimes earn twice the average,” says Flanderijn director Van Leeuwen. “That is also a group that pays a relatively large part of the childcare costs themselves and is less compensated by the government.”
Van Limpt of GGN also recognizes this. “There is now a group with a reasonable income, people who never make crazy expenses but now see costs rising too quickly. They are not used to dealing with payment problems.”
Van Leeuwen hopes that childcare organizations will identify payment problems as soon as possible. “Even with parents with high incomes, where you would assume, given the expensive car or clothing, that they have enough to spend.”
