Open letter from daycare providers, parents' councils and the city of Hof to the Ministry of Social Affairs
The daycare centers in Hof are facing major challenges. Despite the tireless efforts of the specialists and providers, the daycare centers are reaching their limits. In an open letter, the daycare providers, together with the parents' councils and the city of Hof, are addressing the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs and local political representatives. They are calling for immediate and sustainable financial support to safeguard early childhood education in Hof."The providers have launched the initiative and the city of Hof is naturally on their side. Our daycare centers lay the foundation for language, social learning and integration, which we need here especially because of our social structure. We are now approaching the ministry together and demanding concrete solutions," says Mayor Eva Döhla.
Funding challenges
State funding in accordance with the Bavarian Child Education and Care Act (BayKiBiG) is not sufficient to cover the rising costs for staff and materials. The proportion to be paid by the providers (approx. 35%) has risen sharply in recent years. The municipal share of funding has also risen, as the demand for places has increased significantly in recent years. The city of Hof is in the process of consolidating its budget, and every year the municipal budget is not under a good star. One of the biggest challenges is the city's social and youth welfare budget, which has risen continuously in recent years. As a result, the city of Hof has to reduce voluntary services in order to meet the government's requirements. This area also includes potential deficit contracts with the daycare providers, which cannot be concluded for this reason. In view of the difficult budget situation, however, no funds could be made available.
Social structure in Hof requires special measures
In view of the social structure in the city of Hof, the daycare centers face particular challenges. In recent years, many people with a refugee background have come to Hof (fulfillment rates are among the highest in Germany). At the same time, the average disposable household income is the lowest in Bavaria. The city of Hof is well above the Bavarian average in terms of the unemployment rate, the debtor ratio and the rate of pupils with no qualifications. The same applies to the proportion of people on basic income support and under 15-year-olds receiving SGB II benefits. This results in a child poverty rate of around 25%. This also puts the city of Hof at the top in Bavaria (2023: 13.4%). Daycare centers are essential for successful integration and language support.
Shortage of skilled workers
A lack of specialist staff due to a lack of funding leads to frequent emergency care, partial closures and shorter opening hours. However, language education in particular, as the cornerstone of successful integration, requires appropriate staff. This is particularly important for daycare centers in Hof, where the proportion of non-German-speaking children is over 80% (average in the city of Hof: 40.3%). In addition, the proportion of children with social-emotional challenges continues to rise.
All of this cannot be managed with standard staffing and leads to dissatisfaction and deficits on all sides. Under these circumstances, the integration of children from affected families cannot succeed, which will inevitably lead to further segregation. The need for further, expensive school projects and youth welfare support services is therefore inevitable.
Due to the excellent training situation with two specialist academies in the city and district of Hof, the region is less affected by the shortage of skilled workers. However, graduates cannot be employed by the providers for financial reasons. In addition, fewer and fewer providers can afford to employ (vocational) trainees. This could lead to a reduction in training places at schools and threaten the existence of the schools.
Additional burden for families
Families are also facing a major burden, as parental contributions have risen in recent years. The development of the average disposable income of Hofer residents is not keeping pace with this development. A further increase in fees could be imposed on parents in the fall of 2025 and further burden lower-income families. This could lead to children from low-income households being excluded from early childhood education. Parents may no longer be able to work due to a lack of childcare, which in turn is problematic for the labor market.
Joint demands to the ministry
The childcare providers, parents' councils and the city of Hof therefore propose seven possible solutions that are necessary to maintain high-quality childcare.
- Short-term introduction of a Hochfranken base value (at least +25% in addition to the official funding rate of 65%), which takes into account the special situation in the city of Hof and absorbs the funding gaps in the short term
- Medium-term introduction of additional funding for daycare centers with special needs (cf. 'Perspektiv-Kitas' program in Schleswig-Holstein), e.g. taking into account a social index in daycare center funding (cf. Startchancen program for schools), which takes greater account of the general conditions in individual daycare centers and in the municipalities
- Review of weighting factors to sustainably improve funding, particularly with regard to integration and language
- Financial support for training and campaigns to recruit specialists in the field of early childhood education without reducing the quality of training, additional support for further and advanced training for existing specialist staff, financial consideration for trainees in our facilities
- Continuation, expansion and continuation of the language daycare services beyond 2025 as well as an expansion of funding for the "German pre-course"
- Continued promotion of parenting services to strengthen the entire family system
- Sustainable safeguarding of 'Kita entry' after the end of the federal funding program without further increasing the burden on municipal budgets
The letter was signed by representatives of the BRK-Kreisverband Hof, the CJD Verbund Bayern, the Diakonie Hochfranken, the Katholische Gesamtkirchengemeinde Hofer Land, the Gesamtkirchenverwaltung Hof, the representation of interests of the Evangelical Lutheran KiTa providers in the city of Hof, the Kinderschutzbund OV Hof e.V., the Lebenshilfe Hof, the Arbeits- und Förderverein Waldorfpädagogik Hof e.V., parents' councils and the city of Hof and will be sent to the Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs and political representatives.