Strike: Many daycare centers remain closed on Wednesday – what the educators are demanding – Bavaria

In February 2023, some parents in the Middle Franconian town of Rückersdorf had too much with too little. More precisely: with the lack of daycare. “Our everyday life is characterized by emergency care, canceled childcare places, a lack of staff and reduced opening hours,” says an online petition. There is currently no “adequate and secure childcare” – and therefore no regulated work for the parents. The situation is stressful for everyone involved, says Tobias Jähnel, one of the initiators of the petition. You often only find out the evening before that not all children can be cared for the next day due to staff shortages. And work from home and take care of two small children at the same time: actually not possible, “childcare is a full-time job”.

“Day care centers at the limit! Parents at the limit!” With these words, the Rückersdorf parents’ initiative has overwritten its call for help for a more reliable daycare system. One could add: “Personnel at the limit”. Parents and employees alike have been complaining about the childcare situation for years, not only in the Nürnberger Land district, but also elsewhere in the Free State. The complaints should be heard particularly loudly this Wednesday: the Verdi union and the GEW education union called for strikes in social facilities on March 8th. Restrictions in care up to the complete closure of individual facilities are expected everywhere in Bavaria.

When asked, Verdi cannot say how many daycare centers and their employees will go on strike across Bavaria on Wednesday. The feedback from the facilities is very large, however, can be heard; the topic burns “totally on the soul” of the people. The focus of the actions is on larger cities and their surroundings, including Ingolstadt, Augsburg, Regensburg and Nuremberg. In Ingolstadt, for example, they assume that “a large part of the city daycare centers will remain closed”. Emergency care cannot be guaranteed. In Regensburg, various lunchtime supervisions are also cancelled. There, too, there may be partial or complete closures of daycare centers. The city has set up a service telephone.

From a trade union perspective, the day-care center problems are most noticeable in the metropolitan areas. Officially, the strikes in the public sector are “only” about more money. Verdi is demanding 10.5 percent more salary for federal and local employees, but at least 500 euros more per month. Unofficially, however, the status quo is also being put to the test. Verdi assumes that there is a shortage of up to 270,000 skilled workers in daycare centers nationwide. As a result, on the one hand, there is “an unbelievable workload and concentration of work” in the facilities, says Verdi spokesman Hans Sterr on the phone. On the other hand, it is difficult to get more people interested in the profession. The salary is too low, especially in metropolitan areas, to be able to live on it and pay the rent. “It’s a vicious circle,” says Sterr.

“Kita specialists must be paid appropriately,” agrees Bavaria’s Minister of Social Affairs, Ulrike Scharf. “It is their right to demand better pay through strikes.” However, she appeals to everyone involved not to overdo it and to come to an agreement quickly.

The federal government in particular is negotiating the new collective agreement in the public sector. In order to improve the situation in the daycare centers, however, the Free State is also in demand from the trade union point of view: For example, it could advertise more for the educator profession – or create more affordable housing. “The poor housing situation is one factor” why there are not enough daycare workers in the expensive cities, says Sterr. Instead of announcing “air numbers”, the state government must finally make its contribution. Experts also point out how important a functioning daycare system is in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers that is also rampant in other sectors: Childcare makes it possible for women in particular to return to work earlier and with more hours after the birth.

The state government supports municipalities and employers in the search for new educators, said Minister of Social Affairs Scharf: “We have already made the training more attractive, shortened it and made it easier for people who are changing careers.” In fact, the number of people employed in day-care centers in Bavaria has risen sharply in recent years – from around 64,000 in 2011 to more than 114,000 in 2022.

However, there are not enough staff. The number of children attending day-care centers has also risen sharply in recent years. While 461,621 children were still being cared for in 2011, by the end of 2021 it was almost a third more – a total of 607,550.

The need is even greater. Above all, there is a lack of places for the little ones: According to a survey by the German Youth Institute (DJI), almost half of all parents with children under the age of three in Germany would like a daycare place. According to the latest data from 2021, only 34.4 percent were cared for. Every year, significantly more parents reported a need than actually had a place available, says DJI scientist Theresia Kayed. She calls for a further expansion of the offer. But how should new day-care centers open if the existing ones cannot find enough staff? The Free State is trying to find unbureaucratic solutions. Since autumn, 15 instead of twelve children can be cared for in mini-daycare centers and in large day-care centers.

In Rückersdorf, the parents’ initiative has now exchanged views with local politicians and daycare providers. Jähnel reports on constructive talks, that solutions were sought together. One idea: employing a “stand-in” who, depending on the need for staff, moves from day-care center to day-care center and helps out. The fundamental dilemma that there are too few skilled workers for all the many children in Bavaria cannot of course be changed in Rückersdorf either. “The consensus was,” says Jähnel: “We’re all in the same boat.”

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