Dutch figures, checked September 2026
What childcare really costs in the Netherlands
Au pair, daycare and a nanny, all priced at the same 30 hours a week — the most an au pair is allowed to work. Published 2026 numbers, every source listed at the bottom, and the part most au pair sites leave out: for a lot of families, subsidised daycare is cheaper.
The short version
- An au pair costs a Dutch host family €650–€997 a month, all in — €5.00–€7.67 an hour for 130 hours.
- That figure does not change when you have a second or third child. Daycare roughly doubles.
- Daycare is heavily subsidised and an au pair is not. Below roughly €80,892–€84,693 of joint income, daycare is the cheaper option even with three children.
- The au pair case is hours and flexibility — school runs, evenings, a sick child — not price, unless you are on a higher income or have three children in care.
What an au pair costs
Pocket money is capped by law, so the variable part is everything around it: insurance, the agency, and what one more adult adds to the household.
| Item | Per month | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Pocket money | €340 | The legal maximum, and what nearly every family pays. It is not a wage. |
| Insurance | €30–€60 | Au pair insurance — liability, accident, repatriation — on top of basic health cover. |
| Board and lodging | €100–€200 | What one more adult adds to groceries, water and energy. The room itself is a legal requirement. |
| Travel | €10–€50 | A transit card or a second-hand bike plus insurance. |
| Phone | €10–€20 | A prepaid plan or a small subscription. |
| Agency or sponsor fee | €125–€292 | A €1,500–€3,500 one-off, spread over the twelve months of the placement. |
| IND permit fee | €35 | €423 in 2026 for a non-EU au pair, spread over the year. EU au pairs need no permit. |
| Total | €650–€997 | €5.00–€7.67 per hour across 130 hours a month. |
On top of that there is €750–€2,000 of one-off cost in the first months — a room to furnish, a language course, and a flight:
| Item | Once | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up the room | €200–€500 | Bed, desk, wardrobe. Only if you do not already have a spare room furnished. |
| Language course | €200–€600 | Usually expected of the host family. Some municipalities offer cheap or free courses. |
| Flight | €350–€900 | Most agencies have the au pair contribute around €350 and the family cover the rest. |
What daycare costs
Dutch day nurseries charge around €10.46 an hour in 2026. Kinderopvangtoeslag reimburses a share of that, up to €11.23 an hour and 230 hours per child per month. The share depends on your joint income and is higher for every child after the first.
At 30 hours a week that is €1,360 a month per child before the allowance. After it:
| Joint income | Reimbursed | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower income — up to €56,412 joint | 96% | €54 | €109 | €163 |
| Middle income — €80,892–€84,693 joint | 83.7% / 93.2% | €222 | €314 | €407 |
| Higher income — €235,698 joint and up | 36.5% / 68.2% | €863 | €1,296 | €1,728 |
What a nanny costs
A nanny in your own home under dienstverlening aan huis runs €13.00–€20.00 an hour, so €1,690–€2,600 a month for the same 30 hours. No allowance applies unless they are registered as a gastouder, which most nannies are not. It is the most flexible option and by a wide margin the most expensive.
Put together
| Option | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Au pair | €650–€997 | €650–€997 | €650–€997 |
| Daycare — lower income | €54 | €109 | €163 |
| Daycare — middle income | €222 | €314 | €407 |
| Daycare — higher income | €863 | €1,296 | €1,728 |
| Nanny | €1,690–€2,600 | €1,690–€2,600 | €1,690–€2,600 |
The au pair and nanny rows are per household — one person, however many children. The au pair figure genuinely does not move; a nanny’s hourly rate usually does rise with each extra child, so treat that row as a floor from two children up.
So when is an au pair actually worth it?
On price alone: from two children up, on a higher income, where the allowance covers little. Below that, daycare wins on price and it is not close — anyone telling you otherwise is quietly leaving kinderopvangtoeslag out of the sum.
The rest of the case is not financial. An au pair gives you 30 hours arranged around your week rather than a nursery’s — the school run, the evening you both work late, the day a child is too ill for daycare but not ill enough for a day off. That is the thing you cannot buy from a nursery at any price, and it is the honest reason most host families do it.
Sources
- IND — au pair conditions and 2026 fees — The 30-hour ceiling, the sponsor requirement, and the €423 permit fee.
- Rijksoverheid — kinderopvangtoeslag amounts 2026 — The €11.23 capped hourly rate, the 230-hour monthly ceiling, and the income bands.
- Belastingdienst — maximum hourly rate for childcare — What happens when a nursery charges above the capped rate.
- Au Pair Holland — published host family costs — Agency and program fees, insurance, language course and flight contributions.
- Sitly and Babysits — 2026 Dutch sitter and nanny rates — The €13–€20 per hour range for a nanny at home.
Figures checked September 2026. Rates and allowance percentages are indexed every year; if you are reading this later, check the sources before you budget on it.