Minister: Abolition of parental contributions cannot be financed
Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Social Affairs, Petra Grimm-Benne (SPD), believes that the abolition of parental contributions for daycare places is currently not financially viable. "Based on a rough calculation, the state would have to spend around an additional 185 million euros per year in order to achieve free fees for parents," said Grimm-Benne in the Magdeburg state parliament on Thursday. Together with relief for local authorities and a free lunch for children - as demanded by the Left Party parliamentary group - this would correspond to an additional requirement of around 500 million euros.
In a draft bill, the Left Party parliamentary group in the state parliament had called for free fees from 2025, a free lunch for daycare children, a ten-hour childcare entitlement and an improvement in the staffing ratio. The cost of a daycare place varies greatly between municipalities, said Left Party MP Nicole Anger. In the state capital, a ten-hour nursery place costs 150 euros, while in a community in Brücken-Hackpfüffel (Mansfeld-Südharz district) it costs 356 euros. Anger called for a fundamentally different funding system that should be based on the actual costs for educational staff.
The MPs from the CDU, Greens, FDP and SPD stated that they supported the principle of free fees. However, the wish is confronted with a budgetary reality that hardly allows for this. "We also have a financial responsibility for generations to come," said Tim Teßmann from the CDU. Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz (Greens) said that further funds should be used to improve the quality of childcare if possible. During the debate, the AfD had also called for childcare places to be free of charge.
Child daycare is the responsibility of the local authorities. However, because the state stipulates certain standards such as minimum staffing ratios, it contributes to the costs through monthly allocations for each child in care. The rest is shared by the districts, municipalities and parents.
Despite the collective support among major parties for the principle of free daycare fees, Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Social Affairs, Petra Grimm-Benne, highlights that the state would need to allocate an additional 185 million euros annually to cover these costs, potentially extending to 500 million euros when including free lunches and relief for local authorities. Meanwhile, Kindergartens in some areas, like Brücken-Hackpfüffel, charge parents up to 356 euros per ten-hour nursery place, highlighting the significant variation in costs across the region.
Source: www.dpa.com
