The number of parents stopping placing their children in organised daycare has outstripped the number of applications for places for the first time, says creche parent’s association Boink.

The drop in new applications is particularly notable in poorer regions such as Drenthe and Amsterdam’s suburb of Zuidoost, Boink says.
The organisation blames the rising cost of childcare for the decline. In total, the government is cutting €400m from spending on childcare next year.
Last year, some 822,000 pre-school children went into formal childcare.