Fewer childcare places for babies and toddlers in Ostend

“It was not easy to find a place in Ostend. It was a long wait for a response from the city. That causes stress, because you don’t know where your child can go when you have to go back to work,” says Ineke Doyen who has to give birth in a month and a half and has only now found shelter.

parent crèches

Since the start of the legislature, there are about 50 fewer places. In Roeselare about 130 places were added and in Kortrijk even 160.

The opposition in Ostend is concerned: “We miss the sense of urgency in the city, because we really don’t want parents to have to give up their job to take care of the children. There are creative temporary emergency solutions possible, such as parent crèches where parents have a jump in day of the week and thus organize a shelter under the guidance of the city council,” says Jeroen Soete from Vooruit.

Long waiting list

Soete points to the 360 ​​children on a waiting list and that for urban care alone, there are no general figures.

The board will solve this problem from January with a central registration list. The ships are surprised about the general decline of the villages, but see an explanation. “We have a number of childminders who are ill for a long time and we also have many who are retiring. It is a dying breed, so to speak. We see that the status of childminder is certainly not favorable,” explains alderman Silke Beirens.