Holiday Care: AK Fears More Problems Due to Budget Deficit

The Chamber of Labor fears a worsening of the problems with holiday care due to the budget deficit. The background is the financial constraints also in the municipalities. These are primarily responsible for everything related to childcare.

According to a forecast by the Center for Administrative Research (KDZ), by 2028 every second municipality could have a negative balance. Municipal Association President Johannes Pressl (ÖVP) has therefore recently advocated for a debate on co-payments for the use of public services. It must be ensured that the offer is expanded and not reduced despite necessary savings, emphasized AK education expert Elke Larcher in conversation with the APA. According to a parent survey, there is already a "care gap" of two weeks during the summer holidays, with a quarter using home office as an emergency solution for holiday care. In addition to more high-quality, affordable offers, she also desires organizational simplifications, such as coordinating registration deadlines between major care providers and municipalities. The AK, together with the ÖGB, continues to demand a summer care summit with providers, the federal government, states, and municipalities.

From Larcher's perspective, more coordination between these levels is also needed in kindergartens, where a massive shortage of skilled workers adds to the financial problems of the responsible municipalities and cities. Although there are theoretically enough trained professionals, according to Larcher, due to poor conditions such as large groups and too many children per educator, too few of them work in kindergartens or stay there long-term.

"Here, a comprehensive plan with a long-term orientation is needed," demanded Larcher. With predictable medium-term improvements, more skilled workers could be brought back into elementary educational institutions, and an increased upgrading of assistant staff would also contribute to the trust of communities and cities, the AK expert expects. "They will not stay in the field if the framework conditions do not improve. A commitment is needed as to when this will happen," she advocates for a concrete step-by-step plan. This would also help the communities, which would then know when to expect which expansion step and which funding instruments are available for it. Young families also need planning security to know whether a full-time job and small children will be compatible for them.

It is important that the step-by-step plan is ambitious yet feasible. "It is of no use if we prescribe things to the communities that they simply cannot implement." In individual federal states with very ambitious plans, measures to improve quality have in the past led to groups having to be closed due to a lack of personnel. "This must be well coordinated across Austria."

The lawyer for equal treatment issues for people with disabilities also expressed concern about the situation, as holiday care in many parts of Austria is only accessible to everyone on paper, criticized Christine Steger. Parents reported to her about care places being canceled at short notice, a lack of trained staff, and insufficient accessibility. "Many families have to fight anew every year to secure a reliable care place for their child with disabilities," said Steger.

The problem is often the lack of funding for staff by communities and states. If there are support needs, communities often broadly dismiss them with the argument that "extra" staff would have to be hired. In numerous cases, due to insufficient funding, trained staff in the care or educational sector is either completely lacking or inadequately deployed in many organizations. "There needs to be equal access for all children to appropriate holiday care," Steger demanded adequate funding.

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