Desperately seeking Daycare
Beginning August of 2013, every child in Germany will be guaranteed a daycare slot. Announced with great fanfare, this grandiose new idea in family policy seems fully detached from reality. Just a few months before the deadline, the unfeasibility of this promise is already evident. In areas of high population density, there is a shortage of places for 50,000 children, but no additional available space for childcare workers to ply their trade. Parents seeking childcare slots in the Berlin district of Friedrichshain, for example, with its high percentage of children, must run a genuine marathon. In the end, many families are faced with the question: What shall I do with my child? How are young families expected to organize work schedules and daily life when facilities are full to capacity in many cities, and cash-strapped communities are out of funds? Are childcare subsidies a realistic alternative? How are these models adapted to contemporary realities? Is this situation an index of the distance separating political objectives from any realistic prospect of implementation? In our reportage, we accompany families in their challenging search for daycare facilities.
