Samen dekken de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage de opvangkosten.

This is because Dutch main clauses usually follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must come in the second position.

Here, samen is put first for emphasis, so the verb dekken has to come next:

• Samen = position 1
• dekken = position 2
• de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage = subject

A more neutral version would be:

• De kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage dekken samen de opvangkosten.

Both are correct.

Samen means together or jointly.

It tells you that the childcare allowance and the personal contribution, taken together, cover the childcare costs. It is an adverb, and Dutch allows it to move around depending on emphasis.

For example:

• Samen dekken de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage de opvangkosten.
• De kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage dekken samen de opvangkosten.

Both mean essentially the same thing, but the first one emphasizes together more strongly.

Because the subject is plural.

The subject is:

• de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage

That is two things joined by en, so Dutch treats it as plural. Therefore the verb must also be plural:

• singular: de kinderopvangtoeslag dekt
• plural: de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage dekken

This is a common feature of Dutch coordination.

When two nouns are linked by en, Dutch sometimes uses the article only once if it applies to both nouns:

• de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage

This is a slightly compressed, often formal or administrative style. A fuller version is also correct:

• de kinderopvangtoeslag en de eigen bijdrage

So yes, eigen bijdrage on its own would normally be:

• de eigen bijdrage

The article is just omitted here because it is shared with the first noun in the pair.

Literally, eigen bijdrage means own contribution.

In official or financial Dutch, it usually means the amount you have to pay yourself: a personal contribution or co-payment. It is a very common administrative term.

So in this sentence, it refers to the part of the childcare costs that is paid by the person themselves, rather than by the allowance.

Because Dutch writes compound nouns as a single word.

Examples here:

• kinderopvangtoeslag = kinderopvang
  • toeslag
• opvangkosten = opvang
  • kosten

This is very normal in Dutch. English often writes these as separate words, but Dutch usually joins them.

A useful rule: in Dutch compounds, the last part is the main part of the word.

So:

• kinderopvangtoeslag is a kind of toeslag
• opvangkosten are a kind of kosten

In Dutch compounds, the last element usually determines the grammatical gender and therefore the article.

• toeslag is a de-word → de kinderopvangtoeslag
• bijdrage is a de-word → de eigen bijdrage
• kosten is plural, and plural nouns take de → de opvangkosten

So even though the compounds are long, the article is determined by the final noun.

Dekkken literally means to cover.

In financial contexts, it often means:

• to cover costs
• to pay for
• to be enough to meet an expense

So dekken de opvangkosten means that these two sources of money are enough to pay the childcare costs.

This is a very common use of dekken in formal or financial Dutch.

The sentence can be broken down like this:

• Samen = adverb
• dekken = finite verb
• de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage = subject
• de opvangkosten = direct object

So the core structure is:

• [Subject] dekken [Object]
• The childcare allowance and personal contribution cover the childcare costs

The sentence just begins with samen, which triggers the usual Dutch V2 word order.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is:

• a bit fuller
• often easier for learners to parse
• slightly less compressed than the original

So these are both correct:

• Samen dekken de kinderopvangtoeslag en eigen bijdrage de opvangkosten.
• De kinderopvangtoeslag en de eigen bijdrage dekken samen de opvangkosten.

The difference is mostly one of word order and style, not meaning.