Joint Financing Rules - MV can also use 2025 federal funds for free childcare
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern can continue to use federal funds to spare parents of children in daycare and after-school care facilities in the state the cost of care. According to a compromise recently agreed between the federal and state governments, the funds made available by the federal government for daycare financing can also be used for fee-free childcare throughout the entire year 2025. The state chancellery in Schwerin announced this, citing a cabinet decision by the federal government to amend the Good Daycare Act.
Schwesig assures continued fee-free childcare
"It's good that the federal government has made it possible to continue using the funds from the law for the financing of parents' daycare. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has always advocated for this. We share a responsibility for families and children in Germany," said Minister President Manuela Schwesig (SPD).
From 2026 onwards, the state government will then use the federal funds for quality improvements, for example, to reduce the size of daycare groups. However, the fee-free childcare introduced in the northeast in 2020 will remain in place. "Parents can rely on that," the head of government assured.
Originally, the federal government had planned to implement the purpose-specific use of funds exclusively for quality improvement as early as 2025. However, the state had also planned money from Berlin for financing the parents' share of daycare costs in its double budget for the coming year. Therefore, the leader of the CDU state and parliamentary group, Daniel Peters, had expressed the fear that the financial model for fee-free daycare could collapse for the red-red state government.
Land already bears the main burden of fee-free childcare
However, Bildungsministerin Simone Oldenburg (Linke) once again emphasized that, regardless of future federal guidelines, fee-free daycare will not be up for discussion in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. "We have promised families that daycare will remain fee-free in the future, and we will keep that promise," she said. Parents save around 18,000 euros per child from the nursery to the after-school care facility, with around 70 million euros provided each year.
According to earlier government statements, the state bears the majority of the costs in the current year with around 63 million euros, with around 11 million euros coming from the federal government. In 2023, the federal share was still around 23 million euros.
High care quotas in MV
According to the Ministry of Education, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern provides around 500 million euros for childcare annually, including federal funds. "117,000 children attend a daycare facility in our state. Nationwide, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is at the forefront with a care capacity of up to ten hours per day and a care quota of 94.5 percent for children aged three to six," emphasized Oldenburg.
With 59.2 percent, MV has the highest care quota for children under three compared to other federal states. However, the northeast still lags behind in group sizes in daycare centers and nurseries. This is set to improve gradually.
Children in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern will continue to benefit from fee-free daycare and after-school care thanks to the federal funds. Minister President Manuela Schwesig praised the federal government's decision, as it allows Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to maintain its commitment to providing affordable childcare.
