Daycare centers in need: Skilled labor shortage increases pressure on families and educators!

Daycare centers in need: Skilled labor shortage increases pressure on families and educators!

The shortage of skilled workers in daycare centers in Lower Saxony is becoming increasingly dramatic. According to a current survey by Diakonie Niedersachsen, more and more facilities are reporting serious difficulties that have a direct impact on the quality of care. The situation is particularly stressful for children, their parents and their teachers. In many daycare centers there are hardly any opportunities for individual support or relaxed conversations in small groups. Educator Margot Krein emphasizes that the relationship with the child is of central importance in this tense situation.

In Burgdorf there seems to be theoretical staff availability, but many educators are absent due to illness, often permanently. The unclear personnel planning leads to constant changes that further exacerbate the already tense situation. The survey found that 77% of daycare centers had to close groups on individual days in 2025, an increase from 63% in 2022. Early and late care is also affected: 79% of facilities reduced this offer, compared to 76% the year before.

Consequences for families

The impact on families is dramatic. 74% of parents confirm that they are suffering from increasing stress levels, while 46% see themselves in a desperate situation and 39% report existential fears. This raises the question of how the shortage of skilled workers can be counteracted. The respondents demand appropriate remuneration for the training of educators, which should correspond to that in other teaching professions. In addition, a better care ratio for smaller groups is required.

The current training situation is cause for concern, as full-time trainees do not receive any remuneration and this has only been improved with the abolition of school fees. Education Minister Julia Willie Hamburg emphasizes the new guidelines for personnel recruitment and records training records, but this contrasts with the reality that bureaucratic hurdles deter many potential applicants. In addition, skilled workers leave daycare centers after an average of five years in search of more stable jobs.

Future perspectives

The prospects are sobering: Although there are many social assistants in training, they are not allowed to take on all relevant tasks. Experienced staff who have stabilized the business are retiring, while working in the daycare center remains unattractive for many under the current conditions. The German Kita Association is calling for reforms to the daycare law and demanding more financial resources for the facilities.

A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows alarming trends: The proportion of trained specialists in daycare centers was at a low of 71.5% in 2023, compared to 75.6% in 2017. Lower Saxony is therefore below the national value of 72.5%. It is also worrying that more than half of the children are not cared for in accordance with scientific recommendations. Things look particularly bad for those under three years old - here the staffing ratio is pointing sharply downwards.

It has already been noted that the state government temporarily lowered childcare standards in the summer to buffer the acute staff shortage. More flexible requirements for substitute staff and the easier use of assistants should help. However, according to the skilled workers radar for daycare and primary schools 2023, access to needs-based care and better staffing can only be achieved through long-term measures.

The situation is alarming and requires immediate action. There needs to be joint action by politics, the community and society so that the quality of early childhood education does not continue to suffer. The shortage of skilled workers is not just a problem for daycare centers, but ultimately affects the well-being of our children and the future of our society.