Childcare

The desire of many parents is to reconcile work and family life. The prerequisite for this is good-quality, reliable daycare. In North Rhine-Westphalia, parents have a choice of various forms of care. If you would like to familiarize yourself with the options while you are still pregnant, you can find an initial overview here.

To approach the topic of daycare and find a solution that works for your family, ask yourself the following questions early on:

• How long do we want to care for our child ourselves? How should parental leave be divided between the parents?
• Is someone within our family eligible for care? For example, grandma or grandpa?
• What other childcare options are suitable for us?
• From what age should our child be cared for?
• How many hours a day or a week is day care necessary?
• On which days of the week do we need day care?
• What costs come to us?

In North Rhine-Westphalia, there are a number of different daycare options. A distinction is made between child day care, i.e. care close to the family, especially for children under three years of age with a childminder, and care in day care facilities with many different variants, for example in family centers, as company kindergartens or as parent initiatives. The decision ultimately depends on which offer suits you and is available in your place of residence. It is advisable to inform yourself in good time locally in order to find a suitable place. Parents should notify the responsible youth welfare office of their child's need for care at least 6 months before care is desired. This notification can also be made via a selected daycare center or via the local specialist agency for daycare.

These options for child day care exist in North Rhine-Westphalia:

The good news first:
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the last two years of your child's care before starting school are generally free of contributions. Child day care is also free of charge if the cost contributions are not reasonable for parents and child, for example, because of the receipt of certain social benefits.

Otherwise, the following applies:
. About the parental contributions decides each municipality itself. Information on the calculation of parental contributions can be found on the website of your municipality.

The amount of parental contributions for a place in a day care center or child day care depends, for example,

• how long the child is cared for and
• how high the monthly income of the family is.

Information on the specific amount and calculation of contributions can be found on the municipal websites of your city or municipality.

In addition to the parental contributions to the youth welfare office, additional costs and contributions for meals may also be incurred.

In fact, in many cities and communities the demand for places in daycare is high. That's why you should find out in good time what options are available to you. Feel free to contact your local youth welfare office if you have any questions about daycare.