Left party demands abolition of daycare parental contributions from 2025
The opposition Left Party faction in the state parliament is calling for a comprehensive reform of the Child Support Act in Saxony-Anhalt to relieve the burden on parents. From January 2025, parental contributions should be completely abolished, said Nicole Anger, member of the state parliament, in Magdeburg on Tuesday. Lunch should also be offered free of charge.
Early childhood education is also about creating equal living conditions, said Anger. We must ensure that all children grow up well. While a kindergarten place with ten hours of childcare per day costs 80 euros in Magdeburg, it costs around 256 euros in Brücken-Hackpfüffel (Mansfeld-Südharz district). According to Anger, these differences can no longer be explained to parents.
The parliamentary group estimates that parents in Saxony-Anhalt collectively pay around 100 million euros a year in contributions. There are no statistics on this, so it is only possible to estimate what the state would have to pay if the contributions were abolished, said Thomas Lippmann, deputy chairman of the parliamentary group.
The reform proposal is on the agenda in parliament this week. The package also includes demands for a return to all-day, ten-hour childcare for all children and more time for teachers to prepare and follow up. The deputy chairwoman of the parliamentary group, Monika Hohmann, said that the burden on employees must be eased. Lippmann emphasized that it was now necessary to initiate changes so that these would take effect during the current legislative period.
Child daycare is the responsibility of the local authorities. However, because the state prescribes certain standards such as minimum staffing ratios, it contributes to the costs through monthly allocations for each child cared for. The rest is shared between the districts, municipalities and parents. Lippmann called for a fundamentally different funding system that should be based on the actual costs for educational staff.
The Left party, representing the opposition faction in the state parliament, advocates for reforming the Child Support Act, aiming to alleviate parents' burden. In alignment with this, they propose abolishing parental contributions entirely beginning from 2025, including providing free lunch in kindergartens.
Despite varying costs for kindergarten places in different regions, such as 80 euros in Magdeburg and 256 euros in Brücken-Hackpfüffel, Anger asserts that these differences cannot be justified to parents, highlighting the need for equality in early childhood education.
Source: www.dpa.com
