How difficult or even impossible it is currently to find a place in a crèche in Erding is what the Bartolome family and their little Benjamin stand for.
Erding - out of the big city, up to the country: this dream is coming true for the young Bartolome family.
But the anticipation is clouded: Because Valerie and Dominik Bartolome, both 34 years old, have not yet found a daycare place for their one-year-old son Benjamin.
And things are not looking good at the moment - certainly not an isolated case.
Erding: The family cannot find a place in the daycare center - hope is fading
When the Bartolomes decided to move to Erding, they immediately looked at the city's homepage to find out where their son, who was born on February 2, 2020, can be accommodated in their new home from the beginning of 2022.
In Erding there is the “Little Bird” online portal for this.
There the Bartolomes introduced themselves - he works in sales at the energy supplier Eon, she in purchasing at BMW AG.
They have been a couple for 16 years, Benjamin attends a day nursery in Harlaching, where, according to his parents, he feels very comfortable, plays, sings and does gymnastics.
As a family, they like to be outdoors, cook and often have guests in the house.
Your cover letter ends with the word "hopeful".
But now hope is as good as over.
Because in Erding there is no daycare place for Benjamin.
The anticipation has given way to anger: "The way in which the city of Erding is dealing with the situation, treating us as a family and not supporting us despite an existing legal claim is more than shocking for us as a young family," they write to our newspaper .
No day nursery: Anger against the city of Erding - "For us as a young family more than shocking"
"The duty neglected by the city of Erding and the politicians to create new childcare places over the past few years is obvious here." Young families suffered as a result.
In extreme cases, even livelihoods would be endangered here.
“We wanted to realize a dream here and create a safe nest for our growing family in what seems to be a great environment,” report the Bartolomes.
They have been looking since September.
According to the young father, only four facilities can be selected via “Little Bird”.
That was not enough for the people of Munich: "We applied again to all daycare centers in the city by email and shortly afterwards called everywhere."
But the answers were the same everywhere: “Not only are we full, there is also a waiting list.” Then they tried a childminder through the youth welfare office.
The Bartolomes received two offers, but in both cases they took an hour to get to by bus and train.
Since both parents work full-time, they are dependent on a childcare place.
They have even tried it in the neighboring districts - also without success.
What the Bartolomes fail to understand: Why didn't the city respond to rising demand sooner?
No vacant crèche places in Erding: Town hall confirms "bottlenecks"
Indeed: There are currently no vacant crèche places in Erding.
City hall spokesman Christian Wanninger confirms this at the request of our newspaper.
He speaks of "bottlenecks".
Individual inquiries could "currently not be served".
However, Wanninger denies that waiting lists are kept.
"Since we started using 'Little Bird', the placement has become faster because the institutions can arrange places among themselves." It is also not possible to help with the placement of daycare places in other communities.
There are only a number of Erdinger children in the “low double-digit range who attended daycare centers in the vicinity.
There are a total of 19 facilities in the large district town with 53 kindergarten, 22 crèche and four after-school care groups.
At the end of last year - more recent figures are not available - 1264 of 1319 kindergarten places were occupied.
In the crèches it was 264 out of 274, in the after-school centers 81 out of 100. According to the performance report of the city, the demand for kindergarten places has increased slightly since 2016, in the crèches it has remained constant, in the after-school care centers it has fallen slightly.
Erding plans to build a new daycare center
As is well known, Erding is planning to build a 21st daycare center - at Ludwig-Simmet-Anger in Altenerding, where a large residential area is being built.
But by then little Benjamin should have been in school long ago.
Only in the 2022 budget, which will be discussed in the city council shortly, a decision on costs should be made - initially only for planning purposes.
The tense situation was slightly improved by the opening of the hedgehog building on September 1st in the former primary school building on Lodererplatz.
The city is responsible for providing space for 25 boys and girls.
According to the city's bulletin, a second group will be opened in a year.
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