The umbrella organization for Bavarian daycare organizations is suing the city for unequal treatment. For most parents, whose children attend private daycare centers, there are still no exemption from contributions. Wrongly?
- The majority of parents no longer have to pay daycare fees in Munich.
- This is not the case for about a fifth - they send their children to private institutions .
- Do you also have the right to public grants ? Now there is a complaint .
Munich - Representatives of the umbrella organization of Bavarian Institutions for Day Care Centers (DBTK) speak of "blatant unequal treatment of Munich parents". They have been discussing with the city since the end of 2018 - so far without result. Now they are complaining. The action for failure to act on behalf of everyone else has been completed.
Daycare fees in Munich: The city does not provide enough places
Because while the city has been waiving the daycare fees for a majority of parents since September 1, 2019, around a fifth still have to pay a lot of money for childcare: because the children neither visit a municipal daycare center nor an institution that complies with the “Munich funding formula”. is subject to a grant system that prescribes opening times for the facilities, among other things. Many affected parents had no alternative when choosing the daycare: the city does not provide enough places.
In its meeting on Wednesday, the city council signaled that it would now give in and grant the relief to all Munich parents . But there is still no decision. It will only come at the end of May, it is said.
"One wanted and wants to make the decision consciously only after the local election on March 15th," says Andreas Lorenz, managing director of the DBTK. "The lawsuit must therefore be filed, we have no other choice."
The city had had time since the end of 2018 to clearly quantify the said costs - but the city council meeting continued to say: "The implementation of the fee-free system is complex." According to Lorenz, this is not just about kindergarten children - it is also about crèche children , where the relief per child and month should be around three times as high: namely, around 280 euros. The DBTK represents dozens of organizations. "About a quarter of all crèche and kindergarten places in Munich are provided by members of our association," says Lorenz.
The city is obviously dependent on these care facilities. Demand is steadily increasing, and many parents go empty-handed when it comes to the allocation of crèches and children in the “Kita-Finder”. There is a legal claim . These parents are then forced to look for alternatives. More expensive alternatives - regardless of their actual salary.
Munich Kita Fees: Does the City's Action Violate Legal Principles?
To exaggerate, it can be said that according to the current regulation, well-earners are also preferred to fewer well-earners - because they were lucky enough to get a daycare place in a municipal facility. Often it is enough to live in the right district - where there are more places for fewer children.
Two reports by renowned constitutional lawyers commissioned by the DBTK have now confirmed that this is unfair. To put it simply, both Prof. Martin Burgi from the Ludwig Maximilians University and Prof. Reinhard Wabnitz, former ministerial director in the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, come to the conclusion that the City of Munich's approach violates several legal principles. Of course, the parents concerned are not concerned with the city completely paying their - sometimes very high - childcare contributions. They only want to be relieved to the same extent as all other parents.
Lorenz also sees the supply at risk: “The existence of private institutions is threatened by the urban approach and is effectively pushed out of the market. The difference in contributions to the city-funded institutions has increased massively. ”Many parents simply could not afford these fees.