The government’s price committee recommended tonight (Wednesday) to raise the price of supervised nurseries by NIS 500 per month.
According to a report by Gad Lior in Ynet, the failure to raise the price may result in at least some of the nurseries not being opened.
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Orna Barbiei said this evening: “The Price Committee’s recommendation reflects the increase in the costs of operating the nurseries, but it has a budgetary burden and a disproportionate and disproportionate harm to the parents. We will use all the means at our disposal to prevent damage of this magnitude to families, and this is alongside our obligation to work for a smooth opening of the nurseries in September.”
At the end of last year, the Price Committee published for public comments a draft of recommendations regarding the rates of supervised nurseries, in which a significant increase was recorded.
According to the recommendations, the monthly rate in a supervised nursery will be NIS 2,432, compared to about NIS 2,000 today. In addition, the committee recommended canceling the different rate for babies and children and establishing a uniform rate for all toddlers staying in the nursery.
The nurseries operate in homes and provide services for a maximum of five children. About 3,700 Semal nurseries operate in Israel today, and they house about 18,300 children, from the age of three months to three years. Toddlers staying in nurseries are entitled to a subsidy from the state, the amount of which is determined according to the level of eligibility of their family or to a subsidy according to welfare procedures.
In response to Ynet, the union of daycare nannies said in response to Ynet: “The increase in the rate, which means an increase in the nannies’ wages, is an important step in improving the employment conditions of the 4,000 nannies.
“Increasing prices in nurseries is not a luxury. This is a necessary move and the direction is to be applauded, the nannies who operate the nurseries have not been ‘entitled’ to a rate update since 2009. The meaning is clear: in view of the price increases, the nannies’ salary will be eroded to a minimum. The price of attrition is already being paid by the toddlers and the parents: since the nannies finance the expenses of the nurseries out of their own pockets, the workers will find it difficult to finance the purchase of basic products for the operation of the kindergarten, without an addition to the rate. If there is no change in the workers’ wages, the union is considering not starting the school year.”