Only recently did the municipalities sound the alarm: the legal entitlement to a daycare place could not be fulfilled due to a massive lack of staff. A new study shows that this is likely to become permanent.
Stuttgart/Gütersloh (dpa/lsw) – According to a new study, there will be a lack of 57,600 daycare places in Baden-Württemberg in the coming year. Despite the massive expansion in recent years, there are still far too few places to cover the care needs of parents, according to an analysis by the Bertelsmann Foundation on Thursday. In order to achieve this goal, the municipalities would have to hire an additional 16,800 specialists as daycare providers. The foundation estimates the costs for this at over 700 million euros per year – not including other operating and construction costs.
According to the experts from the Bertelsmann Foundation, the figures show that Baden-Württemberg will not be able to redeem the legal right to a daycare place for every child whose parents have a need until 2023. “This is doubly unacceptable: parents are not supported in looking after their children, while children are denied their right to professional support in their early education,” said Kathrin Bock-Famulla, an expert in early childhood education at the foundation.
The municipalities in the southwest had last sounded the alarm in the summer because the legal claim could no longer be fulfilled due to the dramatic shortage of skilled workers. They asked the country to extend the special rules for the personnel key and group size from the Corona period. “The reduction of opening hours, the closure of groups and the reduction of places is already a bitter reality in large parts of Baden-Württemberg,” said the municipal, city and district council at the time. The state is responsible for the training of educators.
