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Specialists in many daycare centers are overburdened - due to too few staff and more and more tasks (symbol image)
Photo: Jan-Philipp Strobel / picture alliance / dpa
It's rumbling in Germany's daycare centers.
On March 8, the Ver.di trade union called for strikes nationwide.
More could follow.
Because many educators miss a voice from practice when it comes to political decisions.
For many employees, better working conditions are at least as important as better pay.
Lisa Pfeiffer says so too.
She is the second chairwoman of the Association of Daycare Specialists in Bavaria and an educator herself.
When political guidelines are drawn up, people who know what the situation in the facilities really is are rarely involved, says Pfeiffer.
This causes frustration among employees.
She refers to the specialist radar for day care centers and elementary schools of the Bertelsmann Foundation.
This already attests to a clear lack of educators.
The situation differs considerably in the individual federal states.
Depending on the scenario calculated, hundreds of thousands of additional skilled workers will be needed by 2030.
According to Pfeiffer, a suicide mission: »It is already almost impossible to find enough well-trained personnel.
If the profession does not become more attractive, it will remain so in the future.«
In a position paper, the day-care center specialist associations of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Lower Saxony/Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony/Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia call for 13 points to improve working conditions in day-care centers.
The pandemic in particular worked like a magnifying glass, says Pfeiffer.
“Conditions were bad before.
But the situation has gotten even worse as a result of additional, non-specialist tasks, a lack of personnel aggravated by illness and, last but not least, fear for one’s own health.«
Pfeiffer's concern: the situation could worsen in the future.
That would increase the frustration of many educators and cause some to migrate to other jobs.
It's already happening.
Here, four people from four federal states tell what everyday life looks like in their profession and why some of them have little hope of improvement.
"I didn't miss the kids during lockdown
"
Melanie S.*, born in 1985, worked as an educator for more than ten years. Now she has decided to leave the profession. During the pandemic, she realized that the circumstances were no longer bearable for her.
»I've been a teacher in a kindergarten in the greater Stuttgart area since 2009.
I knew early on that that was exactly what I wanted to do.
I used to take care of the little ones at school.
When I started my apprenticeship, I was looking forward to accompanying children on their journey through life.
However, the circumstances have made my job so stressful that I no longer want to do it.
Documenting our work has taken up more and more space in recent years.
We have to write down every detail from everyday life.
In the past, you could devote much more time to the children.
The constant volume bothers me too.
Parents have become very decisive, many children today are brought up in a needs-oriented manner.
This means that they are subject to as few regulations as possible and, to put it bluntly, they can do whatever they want.
This makes being in a group difficult.
Even children have to learn that there are limits.
»When I talk about my job privately, others often say: I couldn't do the job!«
In general, we educators experience too little appreciation.
When I talk about my job privately, others often say: 'I couldn't do the job!'.
Most of the time, however, that doesn't sound like recognition of my profession, but rather pity.
What could help to upgrade the profession would be a better salary.
But it would be almost more important that there are more staff.
Corona didn't make it any easier and for me it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
There is fear for one's own health, keeping one's distance is impossible when working with children.
The pandemic has also left its mark on the children.
Where before there were two to four children per group who needed more support, today there are just as many who do not need this support.
The need for support has increased immensely.
We can't afford that.
At the facility where I work, we are fully staffed.
And yet there is a perceived lack of staff because we have so much extra work.
During the closure of the kindergartens in spring 2020, when we also worked from home for a short time, it suddenly struck me: I don't miss the children.
So I'm going to quit, but I'll continue to work closely with people, so it's not quite letting me go.«
"To speak of day-care centers as educational institutions is an absolute gloss over"
Andreas S.*, born in 1967, is a social worker. After two years in daycare, he is disillusioned. He even speaks of impaired child well-being and has therefore turned his back on the day care center professionally.
»Because of my professional career in social pedagogy and especially as a trainer in early childhood education, I know what work in day-care centers should actually be like.
Within a very short time, however, I was completely disillusioned and shaken by the general conditions on site.
That's why I quit my job at the day care center after just two years.
As much as I loved working with the kids.
Today I work with adults with mental illnesses and see that every euro invested in day-care centers would pay off here.
The political guidelines for day-care centers and crèches are irresponsible.
To speak of day-care centers as educational institutions is an absolute euphemism.
The framework conditions do not really allow for professionally accompanied education there.
I would even say that responsible care is not always guaranteed because a specialist who, for a variety of reasons, is always alone in the group cannot always guarantee the duty of supervision for 25 children.
As an educator, you are actually legally obliged to report it to the youth welfare office if the child's well-being is impaired.
And in my experience, this happens every day, but is hardly reported.
Time and again, even the most competent and dedicated staff cannot meet the needs of the children under these circumstances.
This is mainly due to the scarce staff.
Actually, the skilled worker-child ratio should never be worse than one to eight, but that is almost never the reality.
There is no preparation time, specialists have to do non-specialist tasks, from washing the clothes to shoveling snow, so the pedagogical aspects are left behind.
In Bavaria there is also a booking system where parents book childcare times annually.
Specialists then have flexible contracts, everything is sewn on edge.
The expectations of politicians, society and parents are enormous, but the necessary resources are not being created.
The fact that more and more specialist associations are forming is great, but also long overdue.
I no longer believe that much will change in the near future.
That would only work if there were more strikes and political actions.
But that is difficult, for example, with denominational institutions.
For many politicians, children's rights are only the subject of Sunday speeches.
I believe that most of our colleagues do not necessarily want more money, but rather the means to be able to do their job properly and to do justice to the children.
My own children are already grown.
I don't know if I would send her to a day care center again with the knowledge I have now.
And not because of the skilled workers, but because of the general conditions.
I would definitely think twice."
"I didn't take up my profession for that
"
Miriam Kirsch, born in 1993, is an educationalist from the southern Palatinate. A new law in Rhineland-Palatinate, which the trade union for education and science also considers a failure, has changed everyday life in her profession so much that she no longer wants to be part of it. She encourages colleagues to speak more openly about problems at work.
»The Kita-Zukunftsgesetz, which was passed here in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2019, was widely praised: for example, it should ensure seven hours of continuous care, which is great for parents, of course.
At the same time, the law has also changed the childcare ratio, and there have even been staff cuts.
»Today children have to function more and more.«
I studied educational sciences in Landau in der Pfalz with a focus on early childhood education and intercultural education.
Later, alongside my work, I trained as a nature and environmental educator.
I wanted to support children on their way to independence.
Hold your hand until you can wave it yourself.
Children today have to function more and more.
Structures are important, but you first have to find your way around these structures.
Much is asked of older children in particular.
Because there are not enough staff, the focus is often on getting used to the younger ones.
This made me very dissatisfied.
I knew exactly what the child needed, but I couldn't use my tools of the trade because there was so much else to do.
So I resigned in February.
I will start my new position soon.
It will also be in the educational field, but no longer in a day care center.
Day-care centers are increasingly concerned with care rather than education.
But that's not why I took the job.
Many only associate education with school.
But there is also education in day-care centers, albeit with different means.
But that is becoming less and less possible, often all that counts is: full, safe, clean!
This means that a high loss of knowledge is accepted.
It's frustrating when you see the potential of the children, but also of the colleagues, dwindling.
Two things in particular need to change: more staff and better pay.
All points come from the staff, if they are well trained, appropriately paid and work in a safe environment, then the children benefit from it.
That's why I can only advise colleagues: Talk to the parents.
They want what we do;
the best for the child.
Talk to the carriers, to associations, maybe to the youth welfare office.
The specialists alone are not heard.
It's a structural problem, it's not about the individuals.
A burned-out professional cannot give the child what it needs.«
»My job was always my lifeblood, now my heart bleeds
«
Maria S.*, born in 1968, runs a day-care center in Saarland. In order to draw attention to the situation in the day-care centers, she is also involved in the Saar day-care center specialist association. But in recent years she has repeatedly considered giving up her job.
»I graduated as an educator in 1988.
It was my absolute dream job.
I worked in a facility in the focal point for over 20 years before I started as a manager in another daycare center in 2014.
By the time I retire, I will no longer have to worry about having a job.
But I've often wondered if he's still the right one.
The profession was always my lifeblood, now my heart bleeds.
The pay was never very good, if it was about that I would never have taken up the profession.
But I think it's nice to accompany this first part of the children's lives.
In the past, the care times were tighter, but over the years they have been extended more and more.
However, the personnel ratio has not improved.
It's basically the same as it was in the 1970s.
Care is not education!
There are day care workers who do a great job.
If you could integrate them into day-care centers and clearly separate educational time from childcare time, that would be an opportunity to provide more everyday-oriented education again.
One problem is the available time.
Since the Good Day Care Act, we should have 25 percent preparation and follow-up time.
But care comes first.
So if someone drops out, that time is gone.
Everything else that comes with it, from putting the chairs down to talking to the parents, depends on the time spent with the child.
“The stress keeps breaking new ground: insomnia, demotivation, frustration.
Many colleagues are just leaving the profession;
and I can understand them."
We know what we could achieve if the general conditions were right.
The discussion has been going on for a long time, every euro invested in the day care centers pays off.
However, the money that was supposed to be invested under the Good Daycare Act mainly went into reducing contributions.
Families who cannot afford them will be reimbursed anyway.
It would make more sense to hire more staff.
Out of the frustration that we as educators are not heard, we also founded the Saar Kita Specialists Association in March 2021.
Working there helps against fainting.
That was a salvation for me.
In the past few years I've often been at the point where I wanted to quit.
But I also know how nice the job can be, which is why I've never done it before.
But I can't say how much longer I can physically endure the job.
The stress keeps breaking new ground: insomnia, demotivation, frustration.
Many colleagues are just leaving the profession;
and I can understand them.«
*Editor's note:
At the request of the protagonists, we changed the names.
The content of the statements are not affected.
The people and the names are known to SPIEGEL.
