Dresden daycare fees are exploding: up to 18 euros more per month!

Dresden daycare fees are exploding: up to 18 euros more per month!

Dresden will soon be confronted with increased costs for daycare operations. From September 1, 2025, parental contributions for Dresden daycare centers will increase by up to eight percent. The city decided to do this due to increased operating costs. In the future, parents will have to pay 215.75 euros per month for nine hours of care in kindergarten - an increase of almost 17 euros. In the daycare center, this care will now cost 268.75 euros per month, which corresponds to an increase of a good 18 euros.

A ray of hope for families with several children and single parents: discounts are planned to ease the financial burden a little. Such support can be a welcome relief, especially in times when every euro counts. A look at after-school care shows that the costs will increase comparatively little. In the future, parents will pay 119.12 euros per month for six hours of after-school care, which means an increase of around 8 euros.

Uprising against the daycare law

But the price adjustments are only part of the story. The federal government is making two billion euros available to the states to reduce or even partially abolish the costs of kindergartens. This is happening as part of the new Kita Quality Act, which is due to come into force on January 1, 2025. However, the federal states have to bear the costs for daycare places themselves without federal funding. This could be difficult for parents in some regions because while some countries have the opportunity to significantly reduce fees, few do so. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, the state covers 79 million euros for daycare fees, while the federal government only contributes 23.4 million euros. North Rhine-Westphalia spends 428 million euros on daycare centers every year, of which 151 million euros come from the federal government.

The fear that parents will have to contribute more to the costs is not unfounded. From 2030 onwards, there could be a shortage of between 50,000 and 90,000 skilled workers in German daycare centers, as various studies show. It should also be borne in mind that due to a lack of nationwide regulations, some municipalities charge parental contributions while others do not - a system that leads to inequalities for some families.

Demands for nationwide standards

In order to ensure the quality of early childhood education, the German Kita Association has called for a uniform set of rules. This is intended to better regulate the conditions in the daycare centers and ensure fair financing. In many cases, parents want more transparency about their financial resources and the use of their contributions to ensure that they also benefit the quality of their children.

The challenges are increasing, because it's not just the rising costs that are causing problems for parents - concerns about the quality and equipment of the daycare centers also remain. In many regions it can be observed that daycare centers are under pressure that could have a negative impact on the quality of care. Instead of financial burdens and insecure space, children should be able to be cared for in a stable and supportive environment. It is important to keep these considerations in mind when the new contributions come into force in September.

The situation surrounding daycare financing clearly shows that a lot of effort is still needed to ensure a fairer and better quality education for all children.