Imbalance in Access to Kindergarten Places in Vienna

In Vienna, how easily one can find a kindergarten place depends on the residential district. According to studies presented on Thursday, in 2020, children in districts with the highest proportion of academics had significantly more places available compared to districts where people with lower education levels predominantly live. In the 25 percent of districts with the highest proportion of academics, there are about ten percent more places than in the 25 percent with the fewest academics.

Study: The More Academics, The More Kindergartens in the Residential District

This unequal distribution has increased between 2013 and 2023, according to Astrid Pennerstorfer, a researcher at the University of Economics, during an online press conference by "Discourse. The Science Network" ahead of the eighth Day of Elementary Education tomorrow. The overall supply of kindergarten places has grown by 27 percent during this time, but for the public kindergartens of the city of Vienna, it was only about two percent. The proportion of public houses has therefore shrunk from 37 to 30 percent during this period.

Especially operators of smaller private kindergartens prefer to open houses where parents have a lot of money and time. But not only the operators of small private kindergartens would pursue such a settlement policy and thus create "inequality". Even in Catholic and Protestant kindergartens, there is a "slightly higher accessibility" in residential districts with a higher socioeconomic status.

The places in the small private kindergartens are comparatively more expensive, which Pennerstorfer argues is due to special educational offers. In these houses - such as parent-managed children's groups - parents sometimes also have to contribute, adding up to 32 hours per month for cooking, cleaning or care services. "Paradoxically", the most expensive operators would score the worst in structural quality features such as average opening hours per week or closing days.

Many Public Kindergartens in Vienna's Working-Class Districts

The two major private kindergarten providers in Vienna, Kinderfreunde and Kinder in Wien, are relatively evenly distributed throughout the city, according to the survey. There are even comparatively more public kindergartens in districts with particularly many people distant from education. This creates a certain balance, says Pennerdorfer. However, only a third of the kindergarten places in Vienna are offered by the city. "If we want to reduce these inequalities and have equal opportunities for all children, we need more public offerings or alternatively more state funds to allow for quality, well-staffed childcare."

Urgent Need to Catch Up on Kindergarten Staff Working Conditions

Sociologist Fabienne Décieux from the University of Vienna identified a need for improvement in her lecture. While there has been a public consensus in Austria since the 2000s that kindergartens are the first educational institution, and more money has been flowing into expansion since the late 2000s, the changed requirements for educators have not been accompanied by better working conditions. Her workplace observations and interviews have shown that the work with the children is rated very positively by the kindergarten staff. However, under the current conditions with large groups and many children per specialist, it is often not possible to respond to the individual needs of the children. This leads to high workloads and overload. "We have to ask ourselves whether the staff shortage is not partly homemade," emphasized Décieux.

In the run-up to the Day of Elementary Education, trade unions and the Chamber of Labour once again called for a "turbo for elementary education". The federal government must "finally put a lot of money into it". Because if the conditions in kindergarten are not right, a lot has to be made up for later in the educational process, which is expensive. Specifically, more staff, nationwide uniform training for assistant staff, and smaller groups are needed. The goal must be a comprehensive expansion and the legal entitlement to free childcare from the first birthday, demanded ÖGB, the trade unions GPA, younion, vida and the AK in a press release.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.