Status: 23.09.2021 10:42 a.m.
For the first time in years, the number of children under the age of three in childcare facilities has fallen in Germany. One reason for this could be the corona pandemic. At the same time, the number of employees rose.
For the first time in 15 years, the number of children under three in Germany has fallen. As of March 1, 2021, a total of 809,908 children were cared for in day care facilities or by child minders, which is 2.3 percent less than a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This is the first decrease since the start of the time series in 2006.
In addition to the population development, the Federal Office attributes this to the fact that, due to the corona pandemic, new care contracts have probably not been concluded in some cases. Trial days or familiarization with the facilities could only have taken place to a limited extent. According to the information, the childcare quota for those under three was 34.4 percent across Germany, 0.6 percentage points below the previous year’s level.
East-West divide
There was also a decrease in the rate among older children up to five years of age, it fell by 0.6 percentage points to 91.9 percent. However, the absolute number of children cared for in this age group rose by 1.1 percent year-on-year to 2.2 million. Nationwide, as of March 1st, around 3.9 million children under the age of 14 were cared for in daycare centers or day care centers.
There is still an east-west divide. While in eastern Germany, at 52.3 percent, on average more than half of all children under the age of three are in day care, in the west it is only just under a third at 30.6 percent. This difference is smaller for three to under six year olds – in the east it is 94.0 percent, in the west 91.4 percent.
More male educators
The number of day care workers increased by 23,435 or 3.2 percent over the previous year to a total of 751,159. Of these, 708,136 people work as educational, managerial and administrative staff in day-care centers and 43,023 as day carers. The proportion of men has almost doubled since 2011 – to 7.4 percent now.