Germany's children's schools are in trouble, the lack of staff is causing serious damage to the lives of working parents, damaging the country's productivity and jeopardizing the future prospects of a generation of children.
A shortage of trained childcare workers in the EU's largest economy is causing overcrowding in day care centres, emergency closures and a lack of available places – with wider consequences for families, businesses and the labor market.
“The situation has never been this scary,” said Rahel Dreyer, one of Germany's leading authorities on early childhood education. “I hear it every day in my interactions with (child care workers), with parents who are completely dependent on their limits and children who are tired of very large groups.”
German parents have the lowest childcare costs of any developed country, although there are clear regional differences meaning fees can range from zero to 1,200 euros a month.
But that hides serious problems within reliability and quality of care.
While the federal government of Olaf Scholz this year pushed for new legislation and additional funding oneas childcare centers for children under the age of six are known in Germany, this paper fell under the hope of many experts. Childcare is already playing a role in the parliamentary election campaign in February, with major parties promising measures to tackle the problem.
Public spending on day care has increased significantly over the past 15 years, with the German public sector spending around 46bn by 2023 as it expands the number of places. This number represents about 1.2 percent of GDP, from about 0.7 percent in 2009, according to Stefan Sell, professor of economics and social policy at the Koblenz University of Applied Sciences.
Except for Germany fertility declinethe need for additional spaces increases as more mothers return to work after having children. “The increase in the number of childcare facilities and the associated costs is not enough to meet the demand,” said Sell. “We need more (We) workers, but they are becoming rare, if not impossible to find. “
The country has close to 900,000 trained child care workers employed in this sector, but there are about 125,000 unfilled jobs, according to a report published in June by the Paritätische Gesamtverband, an umbrella organization of health and social organizations.
In an example of the steps taken in some parts of Germany to respond to this problem, the government of North Rhine-Westphalia recently. proposed allowing one qualified childcare worker to be responsible for up to 60 children – as long as they have support from other professionals such as musicians, gardeners or artists.
Labor shortages, reflected in aged care and health care, have contributed to a nationwide shortage of about 300,000. We areas, mostly in western Germany.
The crisis has piled pressure on existing workers, who unions say are overburdened and under pressure. The main issue is not income – the average pre-tax income for the highly qualified in Germany We workers is €3,750 per month, which is below the average wage but above the minimum wage.
Many of the trained childcare workers have missed out on the “horrendous conditions” in the job, Katja Ross, a childcare teacher from the northern city of Rostock told parliament in October.
Childcare workers suffer from sick leave in Germany, with an average of 30 days off per year due to sickness, compared to the national average is 20.
As a result, one often announcing reduced opening hours or closing at short notice, leaving children and parents – and their employers – in trouble.
“The first thing I do every morning is check my phone to see if there is a message from the Internet We app,” said Mirjam Hock, a working mother of an 18-month-old who lives in the Bavarian city of Augsburg.
“We get messages twice a month where they ask us to pick him up immediately, or they say: can your child stay at home?”
Hock, who works as an IT project manager and sits on the board of Germany's Association of Working Mothers, said the situation is putting pressure on her work and her relationship with her partner. “You wake up in the morning afraid that you will disappoint someone today,” he said.
This affects women disproportionately.
Germany has the highest female labor force participation rate in Europe, at around 76 percent. But that number hides the high rate of part-time work for mothers, especially those with young children: only 27 percent are mothers and children under six worked full-time by 2023, compared to 91 per cent of fathers.
Jonas Fluchtmann, a labor market expert at the OECD group of advanced economies, said the level of part-time work among mothers is “very high” compared to other nations, adding that it has positive effects on women's current and future earnings. and their pensions.
For some mothers, part-time work is an option. But research suggests that most want to work more than they do – leading economists to discuss better childcare as a way to boost national productivity.
This situation has left some private businesses coming up with their own solutions to fill the gaps in government provision. Energy company Eon supports 65 We place in the home city of Essen, at an annual cost of around €4,000 per place. This money helps to pay for additional staff to improve the staff-child ratio, which makes the centers more reliable.
At Berlin-based food delivery service HelloFresh, managers have even set up in-house childcare, where parents can book slots to be looked after by the company's nanny – one of several business initiatives to attract and retain staff. “Every big organization in Berlin does some kind of this,” says Johannes Willberg, the company's vice president.
But most families don't have the luxury of business savings.
Dreyer, an early years specialist, said she is concerned about the impact of the problem on children from disadvantaged homes.
He also points to studies that show that the quality of education in a child's early years can have a huge impact on their future.
National deficits We The program “has consequences for children, parents, professionals, and ultimately the whole community”, he said. If we are not sure that every child finds his place in society, success and unity will be disrupted.”