- Prolonged absences exceeding 30 days linked to elevated illness rates in urban areas of North Rhine-Westphalia.
There's an alarming level of staff absenteeism in daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), compounding the existing staffing difficulties. Recent analysis of health insurance data suggests that employees in childcare usually take around 30 sick days annually, which is significantly higher than the average of about 20 sick days across all professions, as per the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Expert Forum.
The Bertelsmann Foundation, which advises the Expert Forum, primarily uses data from DAK health insurance, covering 12.2% of childcare employees. The trend was also confirmed with data from other health insurance companies.
NRW has a slightly higher sick leave rate in daycare centers compared to the national average.
To account for absences due to illness, vacations, and training, the Foundation estimates that NRW needs an additional 20,000 full-time specialists. This would cost approximately 1.2 billion euros annually, temporarily alleviating the staffing situation, according to the Foundation.
Compared to other federal states, NRW has a sick leave rate of 30.5 days due to illness, slightly exceeding the national average of 29.6%. While the eastern states typically have more sick days (34 days), the difference is less pronounced in states like Baden-Württemberg (22.6 days) and Bavaria (23.8 days), although overall, employees there tend to take less time off due to illness (around 17 days each).
Experts cautions against compromising quality standards.
However, providers in NRW already complain about insufficient funding due to rising salaries. According to past calculations by the Bertelsmann Foundation, NRW alone is short of around 28,000 specialists.
The staff shortage should not be addressed by lowering pedagogical qualification standards, the Expert Forum cautions: "Employees lacking adequate pedagogical qualifications require more close supervision by existing specialists, exacerbating their workload," the statement reads.
Instead, there should be a standardized and nationwide legal funding for qualified staff coverage for all absences, the Foundation suggests. Currently, there's no reliable regulation for this, not even in NRW.
Given the high sick leave rate in daycare centers in North Rhine-Westphalia, emergency care might become a challenge if the situation continues. To prevent this, implementing standardized and nationwide legal funding for qualified staff coverage could be a solution, ensuring adequate coverage during absences.
