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If both parents work, someone has to look after the children during the day. In the Netherlands, most working parents use childcare: a place where trained staff look after children while their parents are at work. Childcare is one of the biggest costs for expat families here, and one of the most confusing. Each childcare place sets its own price. The government pays a big part of it through the childcare allowance (kinderopvangtoeslag). How much you get back depends on your income, the type of care, and whether both parents work. This guide explains it all from the start: the types of childcare, what they cost in 2026, how the allowance works, and what to arrange before your child's first day.
The idea in simple words
Childcare in the Netherlands is expensive: a few days a week can cost more than €1,500 a month.
But if both parents work, the government pays back a big part of it, often most of it. This money is the childcare allowance. The less your family earns, the more you get back.
You have to ask for it yourself, within 3 months. And good childcare places are full, so put your name on waiting lists early.
The most important facts
- Three main types: daycare (kinderdagverblijf) for ages 0 to 4, after-school care (BSO) for ages 4 to 12, and childminders (gastouders), who look after a few children at home.
- Normal price in 2026: about €11.43 an hour for daycare. That is roughly €1,600 a month for three days a week, before the allowance.
- Childcare allowance: pays back 36.5% to 96% of the cost, up to a maximum hourly price of €11.23 for daycare, €9.98 for BSO and €8.49 for childminders.
- Both parents must work (or study, or follow a In Dutch: inburgering. A course where newcomers learn Dutch and learn how life in the Netherlands works. Some newcomers must do it.). If one partner doesn't work yet, you usually get nothing.
- Apply within 3 months after the care starts. And sign up for daycare early: in the big cities, waiting lists are long.
Types of childcare
| Type | Ages | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Daycare (kinderdagverblijf or dagopvang) | From about 10 weeks to 4 years | A childcare centre where children are in groups by age. It is usually open from about 7:30 to 18:30. You book fixed days, and most centres only offer full days. |
| Toddler group (peuteropvang) | 2 to 4 years | A few mornings or afternoons a week, to get children ready for primary school. The The local government of your town or city. In Dutch: gemeente. helps pay for it for families who don't get the childcare allowance. |
| After-school care (buitenschoolse opvang, BSO) | 4 to 12 years | Care after school ends, and often also before school and in the school holidays. BSO staff usually pick the children up from school. |
| Childminder (gastouder) | 0 to 12 years | A person who looks after a small group of children in their own home, or in yours. The hours are more flexible and it is cheaper than a centre. You arrange it through an agency (gastouderbureau). |
Most Dutch children start primary school (basisschool) when they turn 4. From age 5, school is required by law. So at 4, daycare ends and BSO takes over. A young person from abroad who lives with your family and helps with the children, in exchange for a room and pocket money., nannies and family members are not registered childcare. You can't get the allowance for them, unless the nanny is registered as a childminder through an agency.
What childcare costs in 2026
There is no fixed price for the whole country. Each childcare place sets its own hourly price. You pay for the hours in your contract, even when your child doesn't come. The middle price (the The median is the price in the middle: half of the childcare places charge less, and half charge more.) for daycare is about €11.43 an hour. BSO costs about €9.98. In Amsterdam and other big cities, many centres charge more: about 4 in 5 parents in Amsterdam pay more than the €11.23 that the allowance is based on. Daycares in two languages and international daycares are often among the most expensive.
A daycare day is usually 11 hours long, so the hours add up fast. Three days a week is about 143 hours a month. At the middle price, that is about €1,630. BSO for three afternoons a week during the school year is about 50 hours a month, or around €500. A contract that also covers the school holidays costs more.
The childcare allowance (kinderopvangtoeslag)
The childcare allowance is money you get every month from the Dutch tax office (Belastingdienst) to help pay for childcare. You don't pay tax on it. How much you get depends on three things:
- The hours of care, up to 230 hours per child per month.
- The hourly price, up to a maximum price for each type of care. If your childcare place charges more, you pay the extra yourself.
- Your family's income together. This decides what percentage of the cost you get back. Your "first" child (the one with the most hours of care) gets the lower percentage. Every other child gets a higher one.
| Type of care | Maximum hourly price 2026 | Maximum hourly price 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Daycare | €11.23 | €11.60 |
| After-school care (BSO) | €9.98 | €10.31 |
| Childminder | €8.49 | €8.77 |
In 2026, families who earn up to €56,412 together get the most: 96%. Above that, the percentage goes down step by step, to 36.5% for the first child for families who earn about €166,000 or more. For a second child, the percentage stays much higher: it never goes below 68.2%.
Example: three days of daycare a week
One child, 143 hours a month, at the middle price of €11.43 an hour. That is €1,634 a month in total. The allowance is worked out on €11.23 an hour:
| Family income together | Percentage you get back | Allowance per month | You pay per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| €50,000 | 96% | about €1,542 | about €93 |
| €80,000 | 85.9% | about €1,379 | about €255 |
| €120,000 | 60.6% | about €973 | about €661 |
| €180,000 | 36.5% | about €586 | about €1,048 |
Now add a second child in daycare on the same days. A family earning €120,000 gets 87.9% back for that child, so the second child costs only about €223 a month. And if your daycare charges €13 an hour instead of €11.43, a family earning €80,000 pays about €480 a month instead of €255.
Tip for expats with the 30% ruling
The income that counts for the allowance is called Toetsingsinkomen: the income the tax office uses to decide how much allowance you get. It is your taxable income.. It is your taxable income. The 30% ruling is a tax benefit for some expats: part of their salary is paid tax-free. That tax-free part is not counted. So you may get back a higher percentage than your salary suggests.
Who can get the childcare allowance?
You can get the allowance if all of these are true:
- You and your partner both work, or follow a recognised study, a civic integration course (inburgering) at an approved school, or a programme to get back to work through the municipality or the The Dutch government office for unemployment and sickness benefits, and help finding work.. Employees, freelancers and business owners all count. It doesn't matter how many hours you work.
- Your child lives with you, is registered at your address with the municipality, and has a BSN (personal Dutch ID number).
- The childcare place is registered in the national childcare register (Landelijk Register Kinderopvang, Landelijk Register Kinderopvang: the official list of approved childcare places. Each one has an LRK number. Only care from places on this list counts for the allowance.) and has an LRK number.
- You have a written contract with the childcare place and pay your part of the costs yourself.
- You live here legally. Dutch, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens don't need a permit. Others need a valid The document that allows you to live in the Netherlands if you are not from the EU, EEA or Switzerland.. Your partner must also live here legally.
When one partner doesn't work yet
Many expat families arrive with one partner working and the other still looking for a job. Then you usually get no childcare allowance at all, and you pay the full price yourself. The allowance starts in the month the second partner starts working, studying or doing a civic integration course. Until then, a toddler group from the municipality (peuteropvang) may be a cheaper choice.
How to apply
- Sign the childcare contract. It shows the type of care, the hours per month, the hourly price and the LRK number of the childcare place.
- Apply in Your personal online page for allowances on the tax office website. on the Belastingdienst website. You log in with your DigiD, your login for Dutch government websites. You can apply as soon as the contract is signed and your child has a BSN.
- Apply at the latest 3 months after the care starts. If you apply later, you lose the allowance for the earlier months.
- Guess your income carefully. The allowance is paid every month as an In Dutch: voorschot. Money paid now, based on what you expect to earn. After the year ends, it is checked against your real income., based on the income and hours you fill in. Fill in your income together with your partner (your toeslagpartner), including any bonuses you expect.
- Report changes straight away: a new salary, more or fewer hours of care, a new price, a new job, or a partner who stops working.
After the year ends and your real income is known, the tax office works out the final amount. If you got too much, you must pay it back. This happens surprisingly often. Usually it's because a pay rise or bonus wasn't reported, or because the hours in the contract changed. You must also pay all your childcare bills within six months after the end of the year. If not, you may lose the allowance for those costs.
Before you apply, the tax office's test calculation shows what you can expect.
Finding a place: waiting lists and what to check
In Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and other big cities, popular daycares have waiting lists of many months. Some ask parents to sign up while the mother is still pregnant. Sign up at several places at once, and be flexible about the days: Mondays and Fridays are often easier to get than Tuesday to Thursday.
Before you sign:
- Look up the LRK number at landelijkregisterkinderopvang.nl. The register also shows the latest inspection reports from the The local public health service. It checks that childcare places are safe and good..
- Compare the types of contract: all 52 weeks of the year or only school weeks for BSO, flexible or fixed days, and whether you pay for public holidays.
- Check how much notice you must give to stop (usually one month), and when prices go up (normally on 1 January).
- Ask about language: most centres speak Dutch with the children, which helps them later at school. Centres that use two languages usually cost more.
- Visit and ask about the size of the groups, how often staff change, time spent outside, and how children get used to the place in the first weeks (wenperiode).
What changes in 2027 and later
- Higher maximum hourly prices: €11.60 for daycare, €10.31 for BSO and €8.77 for childminders from 1 January 2027. These are final.
- Higher percentages: on Prince's Day, the third Tuesday of September, when the government presents its plans and budget for the next year. 2026, the government said that families earning up to about €72,000 together will get the maximum percentage in 2027. Parliament still has to approve this, so check the final 2027 table before you plan your budget.
- A new system from 2029: the government plans to pay childcare places directly. All working parents would then get about 95.6% of the costs paid, whatever they earn, and the allowance and the paying back would disappear. This law has not been passed yet.
Your childcare checklist
- Sign up at several daycares or BSOs as early as you can.
- Check that each place is in the LRK, and read the latest inspection report.
- Make sure both partners work, study or follow a civic integration course. If not, plan for the full price.
- Apply for the childcare allowance within 3 months after the care starts.
- Keep your income guess up to date and report every change.
- Pay your bills on time and keep the yearly statement (jaaropgave) from your childcare place.
Official sources and useful links
- Rijksoverheid: childcare allowance amounts and income table 2026 (Dutch)
- Belastingdienst: can I get childcare allowance? (Dutch)
- Rijksoverheid: the new childcare payment system and 2027 plans (Dutch)
- Landelijk Register Kinderopvang: search registered childcare
This is general information based on the 2026 rules and the plans announced for 2027. Your own allowance depends on your income, contract and situation. Use the tax office's test calculation for a personal estimate.
