"It would be a coup de grace if the countries, which have already been able to realize the legal claim with the existing means, were now to demand an additional payment," she told the "frankfurter allgemeine sonntagszeitung". "We must use the resources where there is still a lack of space."Then the legal entitlement to a daycare place, which was fixed by law in august 2013, could also be realized.
Bavaria's family minister christine haderthauer (CSU) promptly protested. "The federal government must distribute its funds equally. It can't be that the countries that have invested massive amounts of their own funds are the stupid ones compared to others that rely solely on federal funds," she said in munich on sunday. Bavaria has in the meantime "almost doubled the federal funds received with state funds in order to meet the legal requirement, and is only because of this at the top of the nationwide expansion dynamic". The federal government must honor these efforts "and therefore take into account the number of new places created with state funds when distributing its funds.
Schroder accused countries of keeping important data under wraps. "Some countries seal off their daycare numbers from us as if it were a state secret."At last count, there was a shortage of 130,000 childcare places for under-threes nationwide – 600,000 places are already available. From next year, parents have a legal right to have their children looked after.
Schroder, however, believes it is possible to offer the necessary daycare places. "The whole of germany needs 780,000 seats, this spring there was still a shortfall of 160,000. Between march 2011 and may 2012, 100,000 places were created, and the countries have 14 months to fill the rest," the minister told the "rheinische post. "The lander must again clearly make tempo. But they can make it."The CDU politician announced that she would call for a stronger kindergarten in the company. "Here we want to create even more incentives. I see a huge potential there."Many cities didn't have the space in the city center for more daycare centers – but businesses in the commercial area did.
The german business community, however, refuses to be a "cleaner for the federal government, the states and the municipalities," as DIHK head hans heinrich driftmann told the newspaper "welt" (monday). Lack of childcare places has become an increasingly serious problem, reported the president of the german chamber of industry and commerce, citing a survey by his association. Nine out of ten companies expected a quick solution, not only for the care of under-threes, but also for schoolchildren.