Moving to the Netherlands With Kids: Schools, Kinderbijslag, and What Actually Changes

Yes, your kids can go to school here for free, the government pays you kinderbijslag for having them, and if they don't speak a word of Dutch yet, there's a proper system for that too. None of it happens by accident. It's how a lot of South African parents end up saying the move was easier on their kids than they'd braced for.

The Fear Every Parent Has Before They Move

It's rarely the visa admin that keeps parents up at night. It's the kids. Will they cope? Will they fall behind? Will they hate it here?

Angelene de Beer moved to the Netherlands with her partner, their twins who were three at the time, and their eldest, who was five. For her family, the decision wasn't really about lifestyle. "The main reason for our decision to relocate was to provide a better future for our children, focusing on their education and safety," she says. The cost of living and lifestyle improvements came after, as a welcome bonus, not the reason they packed up in the first place.

That's the pattern worth knowing before you dive into logistics: the fear is normal, and it's usually the thing that turns out to matter least once you're actually here.

How Does Dutch School Actually Work?

Dutch schooling is simpler than it looks from the outside. Children start basisschool, primary school, around age four, and it becomes compulsory at five. Primary school runs to about age twelve, after which kids move into voortgezet onderwijs, secondary school, which splits into a few tracks depending on ability and interest: vmbo (practical/vocational), havo, and vwo (the more academic routes, the latter preparing for university). Public schools in both phases are government-funded, so unlike in South Africa, there's no annual tuition bill attached to a standard public education.

That's the big structural difference to hold onto. In South Africa, even fee-paying public schools commonly charge somewhere in the region of R20,000 to R60,000 a year per child. In the Netherlands, a public school place simply doesn't come with that bill.

What If My Child Doesn't Speak Dutch Yet?

This is usually the real worry, and it has a real answer.

Children between six and twelve who arrive without Dutch join what's called a nieuwkomersklas, a newcomer's class, attached to a regular primary school. Teenagers between twelve and eighteen go into an Internationale Schakelklas (ISK), a dedicated transition class that exists specifically for this. Both are entirely government-funded. In the ISK, Dutch language learning sits at the centre of everything, alongside the other basics your child would need, and after roughly two years on average, students move into mainstream Dutch education at the level that suits them.

It's not a stopgap that leaves kids behind. It's a built purpose-designed on-ramp, and every child arriving in the country in this position goes through some version of it.

What About International Schools?

If keeping your child in an English-medium environment while they settle matters more to your family, that's on the table too, and it comes in two very different price brackets.

Dutch International Schools (sometimes called DIPS) are partly funded by the Dutch government and follow international curricula like the IB, but charge a much lower parental contribution than fully private options, typically in the range of €5,000 to €8,500 a year. To qualify, you generally need to be on an international-style employment arrangement, which most Highly Skilled Migrant placements satisfy.

Fully private international schools sit at a different level entirely, often €14,000 to €30,000 a year depending on the school and grade, with no eligibility restrictions.

What Happens to the Kids While Both Parents Are at Work?

This is the question that quietly worries dual-income families more than almost anything else, and it splits into two stages depending on how old your child is.

For children under four, before school starts, kinderopvang (daycare) typically runs €500 to €1,200 a month, depending on the region and the facility. Once your child starts school, that shifts to BSO, buitenschoolse opvang, before- and after-school care that also covers school holidays, and it's a lighter cost by comparison, generally somewhere between €150 and €400 a month.

Neither of those numbers tells the full story on their own, though. Kinderopvangtoeslag, the government childcare subsidy, can cover a genuinely significant chunk of the bill, anywhere from around a third up to 96%. But it comes with a condition worth understanding properly: both parents need to be working, studying, or actively working toward employment, not just one. The idea is straightforward, if there's a parent at home who's available to look after the kids, the government doesn't subsidise paid childcare on top of that. Single-income households generally don't qualify, with narrow exceptions such as a partner who's medically unable to provide care themselves.

If both parents do work, the amount you get back depends on two things together, not income alone: your combined household income, and how many hours the less-working parent actually works, since that sets the maximum hours of subsidised care per month (up to 230 hours per child). Families earning up to roughly €56,000 a year between them qualify for close to the maximum percentage, but it's genuinely a two-parent-working system, not a household-income one. It's applied for through the Belastingdienst, not automatically like kinderbijslag, so it's one form worth putting on your settling-in checklist early if it applies to your family.

Put simply: for dual-income families, the bill at the door looks bigger than what actually leaves your account once the toeslag comes through. For single-income households, it's a cost to plan for without that offset, which is worth knowing upfront rather than discovering later.

What Is Kinderbijslag, and How Much Will You Actually Get?

Kinderbijslag is a quarterly government payment made to every parent raising a child in the Netherlands, regardless of income. It isn't a benefit you have to prove you need. Everyone with children under eighteen gets it, South African expats included, and it's paid automatically once your child is registered.

As of the second half of 2026, the amounts per child per quarter are roughly €295 for children aged nought to five, €358 for six to eleven-year-olds, and €422 for twelve to seventeen-year-olds, working out to somewhere between €98 and €140 a month per child depending on their age. A family with a four-year-old and a nine-year-old, for example, would receive around €653 a quarter between the two of them, over €2,600 a year, paid straight into a Dutch bank account without ever having to apply for it again.

It's not going to cover a mortgage. But it's also not nothing, and for families used to South Africa's income-tested support systems, the fact that it simply arrives, unconditionally, tends to catch people off guard.

It's not the only quiet benefit either. Children are automatically covered under their parents' health insurance at no extra cost, right up to age eighteen, so there's no separate premium to budget for per child the way there often is with South African medical aid. And on public transport, children under eleven travel free, which adds up fast for a family that's out and about on trains and trams every weekend.

What Surprised the Families Who've Already Done This?

Angelene's family was one of them. "We were also pleasantly surprised by the kinderbijslag and other children's benefits, which provided significant additional financial assistance, especially as expats. We didn't expect to qualify for such support so soon," she says.

Jesica Liebenberg's experience adds another layer to the reassurance. She moved as a family of four, including a five-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son who has special needs and requires full-time care. Her husband stays home to manage that, which means their household has been running on a single income for months. "Despite this, our standard of living has not decreased," she says. "With good planning and realistic expectations about the cost of living, it has been completely manageable." Child benefits, the 30% ruling, and strong public services, she explains, are what make a single income stretch further here than the same arrangement would in South Africa.

Neither family pretends it was effortless. Both are honest that some things, groceries, insurance, the first few months of converting everything back to rand in their heads, took real adjustment. But on the specific question of whether their kids would be okay, both came out the other side more settled than they expected to be.

One thing that catches most South African parents off guard: swimming lessons here aren't optional extracurricular fun, they're close to a safety requirement. With canals, lakes, and ditches woven through daily life, most Dutch kids work toward their zwemdiploma (A, then usually B and C) from around age four or five. It's a real budget line to plan for, but it's one of those details that signals just how differently water safety is treated here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age do kids start school in the Netherlands? Most children start basisschool around age four, and it becomes compulsory at five.

Is public school genuinely free? Yes. Dutch public schools, both primary and secondary, are government-funded, so there's no recurring tuition fee, unlike fee-paying public schools in South Africa. They might ask you for a small yearly contribution but then you're looking at less than €100.

What happens if my child doesn't speak any Dutch when we arrive? They're placed in a free, government-funded transition class, a nieuwkomersklas for six to twelve-year-olds or an ISK for twelve to eighteen-year-olds, designed specifically to bring them up to speed in around two years before moving into mainstream education.

Do we need to apply for kinderbijslag, or does it happen automatically? It's automatic. Once your child is registered with your municipality, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) starts paying it into your account every quarter, no separate application needed.

Are there other savings for families beyond kinderbijslag? Yes. Children are covered under their parents' health insurance at no extra cost up to age eighteen, and kids under eleven travel free on public transport.

Do we qualify for kinderopvangtoeslag as expats? Only if both parents (or a single parent in a one-parent household) are working, studying, or actively working toward employment, since the subsidy assumes there's no parent available to look after the kids otherwise. If you qualify, the amount depends on your combined income and how many hours the less-working parent works, not income alone, and it's something you apply for yourself through the Belastingdienst rather than receiving automatically.

Do Dutch kids really need swimming lessons? Yes, and it's treated seriously rather than as an optional extra. With so much water around daily life, canals, lakes, ditches, most Dutch children work toward a zwemdiploma from around age four or five. Budget for it as a real cost, typically €1,000 to €1,500 for the full set of diplomas.

Ready to Talk Through What This Looks Like for Your Family?

Every family's situation is different, especially once schooling, benefits, and household income all need to line up. If you'd like to talk it through properly, get in touch with our team and we'll help you map out what it looks like for your kids specifically.

Engineer Your Dutch Life.