Cuts to childcare allowance
Implementation and impact
Cuts to childcare allowance
The Court of Audit is publishing a series of reports entitled Zicht op Bezuinigingen (‘Insight into spending cuts’) to help improve insight into the implementation and impact of the government’s economy measures. We are investigating the budgetary implementation of a number of economy measures and, where possible, pointing out their consequences for the public, businesses and institutions. Following our earlier publication on the measure to freeze the target group for healthcare allowances, the latest publication considers the measure to cut the childcare allowance. We selected this measure on account of the relatively large size of the spending cut in 2012 and 2013 and the social importance of childcare.
We found that total expenditure on childcare declined by €148 million and €388 million more than projected in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The greater-than-projected fall was due chiefly to an unforeseen decline in the use of childcare in the two years. The development of labour participation in those years shows a mixed picture. It is uncertain what part of the fall is due to the spending cuts and what part to other social developments.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment submits a relatively large amount of information on childcare and the childcare allowance to parliament. The information, however, is difficult to relate to the spending cuts. It is therefore difficult to map out the implementation and impact of the economy measure. In the light of parliament’s right to approve the budget, we recommend that the Minister of Finance ensure that the ministries’ annual reports provide an insight into the implementation and consequences of at least the main economy measures, including the policy-based conclusion that the government wishes to attach to them. Without this information, parliament has no insight into the financial progress of the economy measures or into their social impact.