Brandenburg’s children will soon be able to go to daycare for free (symbol image) Photo: picture alliance / dpa
By Michael Sauerbier
Brandenburg’s parents have been waiting for this for a long time. From August 2024, they will no longer have to pay daycare contributions, Parliament decided on Wednesday. In just five weeks, two of the three years of daycare will be free of charge. The relief is enormous.
Parents pay up to 500 euros a month for day care – for each child. Depending on income and place of residence – with huge differences between the communities. Day care centers in Berlin have been free of charge since 2018. In Brandenburg since 2019 only the last year of daycare.
Now the red-black-green government has kept its election promise: from August 1, 2023, the penultimate year of daycare will also be paid for by the state, the members of the state parliament decided. One year later, all parental contributions for children over the age of three will no longer apply.
This saves Brandenburg’s parents 226 million euros every year. Only low earners with an annual income of up to 35,000 euros have so far been completely exempt from contributions.
The crèche care for small children remains chargeable. After all, the new law provides for more educators for children under three from 2025.