Whether its short-notice closures or endless strikes, sending children to nursery school (Kita) in Germany can be a rollercoaster ride for parents. 

Low resources and chronic understaffing have become a daily reality in the country’s nurseries, and when they are forced to close due to staff shortages the burden falls on families to find alternatives. 

To try and tackle these issues, the German government is set to funnel €4 billion into daycare centres over the next two years. 

This was set out in a new amendment to Kita Quality Act, which was passed in the cabinet on Tuesday and will head to the Bundestag in September. 

Celebrating the move, Family Minister Lisa Paus of the Green Party said that, despite budget restrictions, the government was sending a “strong signal that we want to improve the quality of Kitas in Germany”.

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Nevertheless, critics say it doesn’t go far enough to address the scale of the problem. 

What’s changing under the new law?

Not much right away. In fact, much of the bill simply shores up federal funding for nurseries in the states, which will receive €2 billion from the central government each year. 

However, the rules around how this money can be spent are getting stricter.

The focus will now be on retaining and recruiting childcare staff, ensuring kids get enough physical activity, and providing healthy, sustainable meals.

In a significant change, states will no longer be allowed to use this money to reduce childcare fees. Instead, they’ll need to funnel it into extra staffing and improving the quality of care.

Does that mean higher costs for parents?

The Family Ministry doesn’t think so. 

Currently, only six states use federal funds to offer lower Kita fees for parents: Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saarland und North Rhine-Westphalia.

Other states like Berlin that offer free or low-cost childcare use money from their own state coffers instead. 

According to ministry, currently states are allowed to spend 49 percent of federal funds on fee reductions, but most have only needed around 15 percent. This money could be replaced from state budgets, they argue.

READ ALSO: Could parents in Germany pay higher Kita fees to combat staff shortages?

Why is staffing such an issue? 

In Germany’s ongoing skills gap, workers in education and childcare have been among the most highly sought. 

Experts say that a maintaining a good teacher-student ratio is essential to offering quality childcare, while low staff numbers can overburden teachers and be harmful to children’s wellbeing.

According to a recent report by the Paritätischer Gesamtverband, Germany has 125,000 fewer workers in its daycares than it currently needs.

Other estimates from the Family Ministry suggest that Germany will be missing around 90,000 Kita staff by 2030. 

That said, the bill stops short of laying out concrete measures for attracting and retaining staff. Instead, the ministry is hoping that offering better working conditions will encourage workers to stay in the job for longer. 

What do people think of the new law?

The Education and Science Workers’ Union (GEW) supports the shift away from fee reduction, emphasising the importance of improving the quality of childcare instead. 

However, they stress that families should still have financial relief to support them with childcare costs. 

The GEW has also called for minimum quality standards nationwide – something the new law doesn’t establish, despite being mentioned in the government’s coalition agreement.

Tobias Ernst, chair of the Child Research Foundation, echoed this sentiment, telling FAZ: “The fact that there are to be no nationwide standards is a missed opportunity.”

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Meanwhile, the left-wing Linke party slammed the the government for not setting out more concrete measures for increasing staff numbers in Kitas.

“The ministry should finally say openly what it would take to really change the shortage of skilled labour,” said Linke chairwoman Heidi Reichinnek. “You need money to enable a better worker-child ratio.”