In 2018, 11,100 children were looked after by childminders; in 2022, according to Statistics Austria, there were only 8,700. According to “Hilfswerk”, which itself employs childminders, the reason for this is the legal framework. Insufficient funding and bureaucratic hurdles would put the model at risk, and “big obstacles would be placed in the way” of company childminders in particular.
Childminders look after children from infancy to primary school in a family-like structure and can also cover off-peak times and holidays. This form of care is particularly suitable for children who do not feel comfortable or find their way around in larger groups. Nevertheless, there is a lack of sustainable funding models for this form of care, criticized the responsible specialist Rebecca Janker from the “Hilfswerk” in a press release.
Insufficiently funded in many federal states
In many federal states, childminders receive insufficient support. While the costs for childcare in facilities are covered in full, for childminders only part of it is covered. According to “Hilfswerk”, anyone who wants to become a childminder must also face up to six months of “bureaucratic gauntlet”, but this labor- and time-intensive preparation phase scares off “many interested people”, according to Janker.
This is also annoying because more and more companies would like to offer their employees tailor-made childcare through childminders at the company location. There is the additional hurdle here that childminders are not allowed to work outside of their own home everywhere. “The federal states are putting big obstacles in the way of innovative companies that want to make it easier to combine family and work,” criticized Janker. We are “miles away” from the freedom of choice in childcare that has been repeatedly called for and from relief for working parents.
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Source: Nachrichten
