Study: Lower Saxony lacks more than 41,000 daycare places
According to a study, there is a shortage of 41,600 daycare places in Lower Saxony to meet the needs of parents. Across the state, 34 percent of children under the age of three are in daycare, but 47 percent of mothers and fathers would like a place for their child in this age group. Of the older pre-school children, 92 percent are cared for and 96 percent of parents have a need. This is according to the "State Monitoring of Early Childhood Education Systems" published on Tuesday by the Gütersloh-based Bertelsmann Foundation.
"Lower Saxony is still unable to meet the legal entitlement to a daycare place in line with demand," criticized Kathrin Bock-Famulla, an expert on early childhood education at the Bertelsmann Stiftung. In addition, more than half (56 percent) of daycare children in Lower Saxony are looked after in groups with inappropriate staffing ratios.
In order to improve the situation, daycare centers need significantly more staff, according to the study. By 2025, there will be a shortfall of 5,000 specialists across the state just to meet the childcare needs of parents. Not until 2030 would there be enough staff mathematically. In order to alleviate the daycare crisis in the short term, the existing specialists must be relieved of non-pedagogical tasks, the expert demanded. It is also important to recruit and qualify career changers.
According to the study, Bremen lacks 6,500 daycare places in order to offer all interested mothers and fathers a place for their children. In the smallest federal state, only 30 percent of under-threes are in childcare (national average 36 percent), although 51 percent of mothers and fathers would like childcare at this age. For children aged three and over, the childcare rate of 88% is also below the national average (92%). Here, 99 percent of parents would like to have childcare. In terms of staffing, however, Bremen is in a relatively good position compared to the rest of Germany, the Bertelsmann Stiftung also reported.
The labor market might struggle to accommodate the necessary increase in daycare staff due to the shortage of 5,000 specialists in Lower Saxony by 2025. To ensure that kindergartens can operate effectively and meet the needs of families, it's crucial to relieve existing specialists from non-pedagogical tasks and recruit and qualify career changers.
Source: www.dpa.com
