VIENNA. Family Minister Susanne Raab (VP) presented the second childcare monitor on Tuesday. This is being produced in cooperation with Statistics Austria and examines which form of childcare is offered in which region for each age group. Raab published the first one in April this year, but with outdated figures from the 2022/23 childcare year.
The aim is to create “real freedom of choice in childcare” for women and families, said Raab. That is why the federal government has agreed on a “historic investment” of 4.5 billion by 2030 with states and municipalities to drive forward the expansion of childcare. Evidence of the effectiveness can be seen in the current figures: As of October 15, 2023, 196,000 children nationwide were cared for in a daycare center or kindergarten whose opening hours were compatible with both parents’ full-time jobs – in other words, they met the compatibility factor (VIF). That is 25,600 more children (plus 15 percent) compared to the previous year, explained Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas.
The VIF criteria are as follows: A care facility must be open for at least 45 hours on weekdays, including at least 9.5 hours on four days. The facility must be open for 47 weeks of the year and offer lunch.
However, the proportion of so-called VIF-compliant places varies greatly from region to region: There is generally a larger supply in large cities. Vienna is well above the national average at 90 percent, followed by Burgenland (74 percent) and Vorarlberg with 62 percent (see graphic). In Upper Austria, on the other hand, just 39 percent of childcare places are compatible with both parents working full-time. Overall, there has been an increase in almost all federal states compared to five years ago, confirmed Thomas.
Please read the editorial “Missed opportunities and the long-term consequences” by domestic policy chief Sigrid Brandstätter.
In Upper Austria, too, reference was made to the improvements already achieved. Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of eleven percentage points, according to the office of Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander (VP). In 2023/24, childcare facilities in Upper Austria will be open an average of 8.5 hours per day and 48.5 weeks per year. This is an increase of 1.5 weeks compared to the previous year.
Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
“}”>
Image: VOLKER WEIHBOLD
In addition, around 880 new employees (643 full-time equivalents) have been recruited for childcare within a year. The group size is also smaller (a maximum of ten children per group in crèches) – only the state of Salzburg has smaller groups. This would require corresponding capacities.
“We are continuing to pursue the big goal of becoming the number one children’s country,” said Haberlander in a press release. It is clear that this goal “cannot be achieved in passing.”
The opposition and the unions criticized him. For ÖGB Vice President Korinna Schumann, Raab’s statements sound “like a diversionary tactic.” There is still no comprehensive strategy for children’s education that would address the shortage of staff and meet the needs of parents and employees.
SPÖ family spokeswoman Petra Wimmer called for a children’s education offensive “that does not just exist on paper”. There are still not nearly enough VIF-compliant kindergarten places to meet demand – especially in rural areas.
For the Neos, the expansion is progressing far too slowly. Especially in VP-dominated states, the childcare rates are “downright abysmal,” said Neos education spokeswoman Martina Künsberg Sarre.
