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Growing together towards a bright future

Vianen, March 17, 2021

Since the merger with Partou, we are literally very much present in society with over 900 branches throughout the country. This entails a lot of responsibility, we fulfill an important social task. In this Corporate Social Responsibility report, we would therefore like to tell you about our vision and mission and about our specific activities. The underlying reasons why we consider professional childcare to be of crucial importance.

The more than nine thousand committed staff members that KidsFoundation employs, contribute substantially to the content and effectiveness of child development. The more professionally this education and development are guided, the more positive the contribution of each individual child to our future society. Because proper early education offers more prospects for better training opportunities, more equal employment opportunities and active social citizenship.

Our strategy

The changing childcare policy of the government places more and more emphasis on accessibility, professionalism and quality of childcare. KidsFoundation anticipates this by taking the lead in improving quality. For example, by participating in various and diverse studies on (the stimulation of) child development by universities and recognized knowledge institutes, by attracting, training and retaining talent, and by acting as a discussion partner for politics by proposing ideas to simplify and improve the childcare allowance system.

We also anticipate the increasing need for flexible childcare in a society where economic activity is increasingly moving towards 24/7, the number of freelancers who follow different work patterns is growing enormously and more and more varied family structures are emerging, which require tailor-made childcare solutions.

We observe an increasing focus on social themes in child development, such as diversity, inclusivity, vitality, sustainability and citizenship education. And respond to this with a varied offer and activities and the guidance of children in their development. We manage to do this increasingly by working more and more intensively with the education and health sector and by bringing them together in one place; the integral child center. In this way a continuous learning and development line is created for children from 0 to 13 years old.
In addition, there is undiminished focus on healthy nutrition and sufficient exercise.
Fortunately, thanks to the ongoing technological developments, more and more data about the needs of parents and children become available, which enables us to adjust our offer in line with perceived demand.

The impact and consequences of COVID-19

The emergence and continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic has (had) a sudden and profound impact on people and sectors worldwide. On the childcare sector and our organization – our employees, parents and children- as well. Fortunately, we were also able to fulfill our social task from the start during this exceptional period. By offering emergency care for children of whom at least one of the parents has a crucial profession and for children in a vulnerable home situation. Thanks to the size of our organization and the boundless commitment of our employees, we have been able to provide emergency shelter for thousands of children over the past year, even outside regular opening hours and also for parents who were not (yet) clients. And kept close contact with children and employees when they were forced to stay / work at home. In addition, we paid part of the costs of the childcare that could not be used. To meet the needs of parents in these economically difficult times for many people.

Looking to the future, we do not expect the economy to continue to grow. The consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic are, as yet, impossible to predict, but are very likely to affect the demand for childcare. Estimates of the consequences for the economy vary widely and the exact impact on childcare is not yet clear. Childcare is also dependent on government intervention. The sector is sensitive to changes in the childcare allowance system. Cutbacks in childcare allowance in response to economic developments have previously resulted in a very strong decrease in the demand for childcare, among other things. Therefore we will constantly measure and monitor and will remain in close contact with the sector umbrella organization of childcare and politicians.

Social accountability

This article provides an overall impression of the content of our Corporate Social Responsibility report. Our first CSR report, which we wrote because we – being a major player in childcare – consider it important to be transparent about our activities. We reflect on achieved results and try to make them measurable. This is the only way to be able to take steps in the excellent execution we strive for. And fulfill our ambition to be the best-rated childcare provider.

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