Several associations and unions have expressed their outrage at the results of the current Bertelsmann study on day-care centers in Germany and have called for immediate action to counteract the shortage of skilled workers. “The results published today show once again alarmingly clearly: the quality of education and care in the day-care centers is massively endangered, the lack of skilled workers is blatant, the space available is far from sufficient,” said the chairman of the Association for Education on Thursday and Education (VBE), Udo Beckmann.
The Bertelsmann Foundation had previously published a forecast according to which there would be a shortage of around 384,000 daycare places in Germany in the coming year. The state monitor for early childhood education, which the foundation publishes annually, revealed a large gap, particularly for West Germany.
The VBE chairman spoke of a “political failure” that endangered the future of the children. The legal entitlement to a childcare place, which has also existed in Germany for children from the age of one since 2013, is being taken “ad absurdum”, he said. The staffing situation in the facilities increasingly corresponds to an “emergency supply” that reinforces educational injustice. A specialist offensive and better working conditions are needed.
The general manager of the German Association of Cities, Helmut Dedy, called for more efforts from the federal and state governments. There must be training salaries for the prospective educators in all countries, explained Dedy. The municipalities could not shoulder the investments alone.
The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) also insists on remunerating educator training across the board. The deputy chairwoman of the DGB, Elke Hannack, explained that it was important to pave the way for more career changers, for example through part-time models, to the day-care centers. In the further development of the new day-care center law from 2023, the federal and state governments must urgently prioritize recruiting staff, said Hannack.
According to the “state monitoring of early childhood education systems”, western German states in particular will probably not be able to cover the need for care. According to this, 362,400 places are missing in the west and 21,200 in the east. In order to cover the need for care, an additional 93,700 specialists would have to be hired in the west and 4,900 in the east. This would result in additional costs of 4.3 billion euros. In addition, there would be operating and possible construction costs for the day-care centers.
The shortage is greatest in North Rhine-Westphalia with 101,600 missing places. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia, on the other hand, no space expansion is necessary. In the city-states, the situation is very different. While the undersupply in Berlin is seven percent, it is 13 percent in Bremen and three percent in Hamburg.
The need for expansion also differs according to age. There is a lack of 250,300 places in the West for children under the age of three and 112,100 places for children over the age of three. In East Germany, including Berlin, the numbers are 20,700 and 500 respectively. Data from the federal and state statistical offices from child and youth welfare statistics and other official statistics were evaluated for the calculation.
“Despite the massive expansion of day care centers in recent years, too many parents are still unable to find a place for their children,” explained Anette Stein from the Bertelsmann Foundation. This is unacceptable on two counts. Because children are also denied their right to professional support in early education. “It is already foreseeable that the legally anchored legal right to a place in child day care will not be redeemable in many places in 2023 either,” explained Stein.
According to the calculation, 68 percent of all daycare children are currently cared for in groups that are too large. So that not only all children have a place in 2023, but also that the staffing corresponds to the scientific recommendations, 308,800 additional educators would have to be employed. That would correspond to additional costs for personnel of 13.8 billion euros per year.
The Bertelsmann Foundation called on states and municipalities to push ahead with the expansion of daycare places. The additional funds from the Kita Quality Act were not sufficient. The federal government must go into the long-term financing of the daycare system to a greater extent. In addition, more skilled workers would have to be recruited quickly. “With more staff, working conditions improve for everyone,” Stein explained.
In order for better staffing to be possible in the medium term, a binding strategy is needed as to how more qualified staff will be added in the future. In the opinion of the foundation, step-by-step plans could be helpful for this. She also suggested the additional employment of housekeeping staff to relieve the staff in day-care centers. The requirements for the personnel could not be implemented with the current personnel assessment.
