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Protest works: Daycare fees frozen

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Author: 
Azoulai, Yuval
Format: 
Article
Publication Date: 
24 Aug 2011

 

EXCERPTS

The social protest has scored another achievement: [Israel] Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simhon and Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz have agreed that the planned hike in daycare will not take place until the Trajtenberg committee makes its recommendations.

A joint Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor committee had decided to raise morning daycare fees by 5% and afternoon daycare fees by 7% in September. The rates affect daycare centers nationwide that are supervised by the Ministry of Industry.

These daycare centers are chains run by WIZO, Naamat Movement of Working Women and Volunteers, and other organizations, which provide services for 100,000 children. Prices range from NIS 1,500 to NIS 2,000 per child per month. The government sometimes subsidizes the cost, on the basis of means tests.

Last month, parents joined the protest movement to protest against the rising cost of daycare and other products and services for infants and toddlers. The parents protest, organized on Facebook, initiated several actions nationwide, include marches with strollers, to call for lower prices.

The high price of daycare was a central issue. Protesters also called for price controls on basic infant goods, such as diapers. They demanded the extension of the Free Education Law to children from three months of age (when maternity leave expires), the extension of maternity leave, and the cancellation of extra fares for bringing strollers onto buses. The parents won a victory on this last point, when the bus companies announced that they would stop charging for strollers.

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- reprinted from Globes [Israel]

 

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