Parental contributions for childcare in a regional comparison

It is feeless in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and from 2027 in Saarland. Only additional services, such as meals, are charged to families here. In Rhineland-Palatinate, this also applies from the child's second birthday and in Hamburg for a basic childcare of five hours a day. Unlike in all other federal states, a free lunch is offered in the daycare centres in Hamburg. In some other federal states, only early childcare is subject to a fee. In Bremen and Lower Saxony, with a limit of eight hours a day, and from the 2024/2025 kindergarten year in Brandenburg, no fees will be charged for childcare for children aged three and over. This also applies in Hesse, but only for childcare of up to six hours. The last two years of daycare before starting school are free of charge in North Rhine-Westphalia and Thuringia. In the remaining five federal states, there is no complete exemption from fees under state law. However, the city of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, for example, has completely abolished fees daycare centres for children aged three and over at its own expense. In Munich, where the state of Bavaria specifically subsidises the reduction of parental contributions, this is also the case for the centres participating in the Munich funding formula. At federal level, it is regulated that childcare must be offered free of charge for families who receive state transfer benefits, including accommodation allowance, which can also be realised by using a subsidy model.

If we look at the structure of the schedules of fees in the major cities with over 100,000 inhabitants, we see very different approaches. Some of them work with uniform rates and others with rates that are graduated according to the economic capacity of the families. If the latter is the case, they use different and sometimes very specific definitions of income, which makes a comparison very complex. In addition, they sometimes differentiate between children under and over the age of three and sometimes between children under and over the age of two. In some cases, the demarcation criterion is also whether the children receive kindergarten or crèche care. It is not possible to say across the board where childcare is particularly expensive, as this depends heavily on the age of the child and the income position of the parents. In addition, the fee scales of the local authorities do not apply in all federal states to facilities run by independent organisations, which account for a large proportion of the childcare market.

If we wanted to treat families in Germany equally with respect to the costs of institutional childcare and not penalise anyone, we would have to completely abolish childcare fees nationwide. It is a matter of opinion whether this makes sense in view of the tight public budgets and the need to improve the quality of care, which is also associated with additional expenditure. In any case, efforts should be made at the level of the federal states to reduce the existing unequal treatment. In doing so, the offered booking times must be taken into account, as it can be very unfavourable for families from a financial point of view if they have to contract a much larger childcare service than they actually want to use. In addition, attention must pe paid to an easy administration of the childcare fees. This also means that from parents should be requested as few documents and information that is not easy to provide as possible.