The tax office paid out €2.4bn on subsidising childcare last year, down €400m on a year ago, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

In total, 534,000 families received help with funding daycare places, down 12,000 on 2011.

Tougher government rules for help with childcare fees contributed to the drop. But the ‘worsening situation on the jobs market also played a role,’ the CBS said.

Parents

There are indications the reduction in help with paying for childcare has led some parents to stop working.

Last week, social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher published figures which showed a slight fall in the number of working parents with young children in the first three months of this year.

The participation rate among young parents has dropped from 71.5% to 70.4%, the new ministry figures show.

The sharpest reduction was recorded in the number of single mothers who work, which fell from 63% to 60.9%. The number of working fathers with children under the age of 12 fell by two percentage points to 91.2%.

Earlier this month it emerged the bill for childcare subsidies last year was €225m lower than expected. The government is planning a further cut of €205m from the childcare budget this year.