In Bavaria, more and more children are attending a daycare center. As of March 1, 2024, 654,683 boys and girls were cared for, the State Office for Statistics announced on Thursday in Fürth. This corresponds to an increase of 1.4 percent compared to the previous year. The number of daycare centers in the Free State has risen to 10,398 (plus 1.6 percent compared to the previous year). In addition, 12,791 children are cared for in publicly funded day care – an increase of 0.7 percent compared to 2023.
According to the statement, almost 148,000 people work in child day care facilities, of which more than 118,000 are predominantly in the educational sector. This means an increase in educational staff of 4.4 percent. There are more than 3,000 day carers in publicly funded child day care (minus 1.5 percent).
The childcare rate, i.e. the number of children in day care per 100 children of the same age group, for children under three years of age is 33.2 percent across Bavaria, it said. In the age group from three to under six years of age, it is 91.4 percent. “This means that the childcare rate in both age groups is higher than in the previous year (2023: 31.8 percent and 91.1 percent respectively),” said the statisticians. The childcare rates for children under three years of age ranged in the administrative districts from 26.8 percent in Lower Bavaria to 41.2 percent in Lower Franconia. Children who are cared for both in a day care facility and in publicly funded child day care were only counted once, according to the statistics office.