A benefit can exist on paper and still feel out of reach. In the Netherlands, parents with more education actually reported lower access to childcare benefits—a result that turns the usual story about inequality upside down. The Netherlands recently experienced a crisis in childcare benefits, leading to unprecedented injustice for many parents falsely accused of defrauding the childcare benefit system.

Digitalisation can make parents feel childcare services are less accessible, thereby creating or exacerbating existing inequalities in childcare use. Parents may also lack the skills needed to navigate complex application procedures, which can affect their perceived access to childcare benefits.

The digital provision of childcare benefits can reduce childcare access if parents perceive the application process to be so complex that they do not even attempt to access policies and services. Think of a locked door with a sign saying help is available inside. The help may exist, but if the instructions for opening the door are too difficult, some people will never get through.

Access to childcare is already unequal, and digitalisation has the potential to exacerbate these inequalities. The study looks at parents’ understanding of the childcare system and their digital skills in relation to perceived access, and asks whether this differs across educational levels.

The focus is the accessibility of digitally provided childcare benefits as a crucial component of parents’ perceived access to childcare services. The parliamentary report had one glaring omission: reference to the online application procedure for childcare benefits.

The crisis reflects an assumption that parents are equally able to shoulder responsibility for an accurate application procedure in a complex digitalised childcare benefit system. With a complex application procedure, widespread digitalisation of government services, and an unequal distribution of digital skills, the potential for inequality is great.

A quantitative survey gathered information on functional and digital literacy, parents’ perceived access to childcare benefits, and several sociodemographic characteristics. The survey took place at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first lockdown, when public spaces, including childcare facilities, were closed.

The survey was intended to be online and on paper so parents with lower functional or digital literacy skills could access the questionnaire, but recruitment was ultimately limited to predominantly online surveys. Higher-educated parents in the sample had lower perceived access to childcare benefits, contradicting the first hypothesis.

Higher-educated parents were less likely to receive help during the application procedure than lower-intermediate educated parents. Controlling for receiving help with the application procedure did not remove the negative relationship between educational level and perceived access.

The analysis confirmed the negative association between educational level and perceived access. Educational level was not significantly associated with digital literacy or functional literacy. Digital literacy and functional literacy were also not associated with perceived access, so no mediation effect could be established.

Parents with more education reported easier access to childcare benefits, but this was not explained by their digital or functional literacy. In other words, knowing how to use digital tools or understand written information did not clearly predict how accessible the system felt.

The sample included more highly educated respondents, while lower educated parents and parents with income insecurity were underrepresented, so the conclusions are limited to this sample. Even within this rather homogenous sample, there was variation in functional and digital literacy and perceived access to childcare benefits, suggesting that access to childcare varies even among higher-educated parents.

Some parents never received childcare benefits, and if they never attempted to apply, their perceived difficulty may have been based on other people’s experiences. Digital applications can make help feel inaccessible, but this study found no simple link between parents’ education, their digital skills, and that feeling.

Access can vary even among highly educated parents, so support must address the application experience itself.