Lower saxony wants to abolish kindergarten fees

Katharina Böntgen has been working as a Commerce Editor at NetMoms since 2016. Through her au pair year in London and her pedagogical studies, she quickly realized that bringing up children is not an easy task, but it makes them extremely happy. She also feels great joy – and relaxation – in Write, a round of Pilates and tours of distant countries and cities.

Good news for all parents of small children in Lower Saxony: the government wants to abolish the kindergarten fees in this federal state and thus relieve parents of the financial burden. You can find out when this regulation should come into force and whether other federal states will follow suit here.

It was only in October 2017 that a new state government was elected in Lower Saxony – and a fundamental change is already beginning to take place, which should particularly please parents in Lower Saxony: the grand coalition that is currently in the negotiations for a joint government is planning kindergarten – Abolish fees.

Free kindergarten should come "as soon as possible"

As promised in the election campaign, the major parties, the CDU and SPD, are apparently keeping their word. It has already been decided that attending kindergarten in Lower Saxony should be completely free of charge. However, an exact point in time has not yet been given. However, the NDR quotes SPD state manager Georg Brockmeyer that the free kindergarten will come "as soon as possible". So there is hope, that parents in Lower Saxony no longer have to wait too long for the free kindergarten.

And how should the free kindergarten be financed? The parties are also currently negotiating this, but emphasized that there will be "fair compensation" for the municipalities.

Other federal states are also following suit?

As we reported, the state of Hesse had already decided in the summer of this year to abolish the daycare fees in August 2018. However, this new regulation only applies to a six-hour day care stay there.

And the process also seems to trigger other federal states to fundamentally think about daycare and kindergarten fees. Rhineland-Palatinate, like neighboring Hesse, is planning to set up the kindergarten free of charge for the care time of six hours a day from August 2018.

The state government is planning the last day of daycare in Brandenburg free to understand. And Hamburg offers parents of small children five hours of childcare from birth to school for free. Berlin goes one step further: for residents of the German capital, the five years before school and from August 2018 the daycare for everyone are free of charge. It is still unclear whether other federal states will follow suit, but is conceivable.

Clear cost differences within Germany

There is no general answer to how expensive kindergarten is for your child. Because the costs depend on several factors: depending on the place of residence, institution and income, this differs significantly. For example, parents have to calculate around 800 euros per month for a day-care center in Düsseldorf or Bergisch Gladbach. In other cities, this can be significantly less and the space "already" can be capped for 350 euros.

We believe that good childcare shouldn’t be a question of money, and we think that progress in significantly reducing or completely eliminating daycare and kindergarten fees is great.

Free kindergarten should come "as soon as possible"

Other federal states are also following suit?

Clear cost differences within Germany

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