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| Parents should fund childcare, not the state, say a majority |
1/6/2013 |
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Friday 04 January 2013
Parents should pay the full cost of childcare themselves, according to 40% of the Dutch population in a new CBS poll.
Just 32% think the cost should be shared between parents and the government, 18% think it is primarily an issue for government and 11% think employers should pay.
The total cost of childcare reached nearly €4bn in 2011, of which 73% was funded by the government and employers, the CBS said.
Rising costs
The cost of childcare has been rising steadily for parents for years. In 2007, parents paid 19% of the bill but that had risen to 27% by 2011, the CBS said. The government is planning a further increase to 34%.
Over the same period, the number of children in organised childcare rose sharply, from 375,000 to 537,000. That total is estimated to have gone down by 10% last year, as government spending cuts begin to bite.
The survey was carried out among 3,500 people. Just 10% of parents with children attending daycare services thought parents should pick up most of the bill.
The Netherlands in grip of mild flu epidemic
Friday 04 January 2013
The Netherlands is in the grip of a mild flu epidemic, particularly affecting children, according to health research institute Nivel.
The definition of a mild epidemic is one in which at least 51 out of 100,000 people report to their family doctor with flu-like symptoms. That was the case over the past two weeks, Nivel said.
Rental housing market grows as home ownership gets harder
Friday 04 January 2013
The demand for rental housing outside the rent-controlled sector is soaring, according to people working in the sector.
Housing website Pararius reports the number of days a property is listed before finding a new tenant fell from 91 days to 84 days last year.
At the same time, the number of people visiting the website has gone up 30%, while it has rented out almost 50% more homes.
Direct Wonen, another rental housing site, told news website nu.nl it has noted a 13% increase in ''serious visitors''.
Finance
Tenants'' lobby group Woonbond confirms the trend, nu.nl said. ''People who want to buy often can''t get finance,'' director Ronald Paping said. ''The idea of buying a home to build up capital has gone.''
Paping says some 75% of newly built homes in the Netherlands are now being offered for rent, compared with 50% before the housing crisis. In addition, people who have bought a new house but are unable to sell their original property are also renting these out.
Banks'' reluctance to give mortgages to people on temporary employment contracts is also encouraging the switch to renting, the organisations say.
Spending on health rises as more treatment is carried out
Thursday 03 January 2013
Spending on healthcare rose 3.5% in 2011 to almost €90bn, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday.
That is the equivalent of €5,375 per person, the CBS said.
The growth was mainly due to more use being made of healthcare services rather than price rises, the CBS said. For example, hospital spending rose 5% while spending on the elderly rose 3.8%.
Health minister Edith Schippers has since reached a deal with hospitals and insurance companies to limit the growth to 2.5%.
Of the total spending, €36bn came from the basic health insurance premiums, €25bn via the AWBZ insurance scheme for long-term care and €3.7bn from top-up policies. The rest came from the government, companies and patient fees.
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