Every year, the federal government of Germany provides billions of euros to the federal states to put towards childcare provision. Some states use this money to subsidise fees for families. However, a new regulation designed to support the recruitment of staff will make that impossible from next year. Here’s what’s changing. 

Federal government will no longer subsidise childcare fees from 2025

From 2025 onwards, childcare providers in Germany will no longer be allowed to use federal funding to subsidise fees for parents. Instead, from next year that money will be earmarked for efforts to help secure, recruit and train new workers, dpa reports. 

Up until now, the federal states were allowed to use up to 49 percent of the 2 billion euros they receive each year to subsidise or even scrap fees for Kitas. A new draft of the Daycare Equality Act, seen by the dpa, will make this impossible from 2025. 

With ministers predicting that daycare centres will be short of up to 125.000 workers by 2030, it has been decided that that money would be better spent on filling the personnel gap. The new law will oblige the states to invest the federal funding into at least one measure designed to recruit and secure qualified staff. 

Will parents in Germany end up paying higher Kita fees?

Most parents will probably be wondering if this will mean they end up paying higher fees. The answer is probably not, at least not nationwide. The Federal Ministry of Family Affairs says it does not expect this to happen, because currently very few federal states actually use the funding to subsidise fees. According to their information, only six of the 16 states do this. 

The others make use of their own coffers to subsidise fees. In Berlin, for instance, childcare is free for parents except for some basic and additional payments, and state funds are used to make this possible, not federal ones. 

Since states will still have the option to relieve parents with their own funds - and there will be a transition period of six months to help the ones that currently use federal funding to find a new source of income - the federal government is optimistic that very little will change for parents.