More than 150 researchers see the German daycare system on the verge of collapse and are calling on politicians to take action.

They fear "an acceleration of the downward spiral of quality" and a collapse of the system, said the coordinator, Professor Klaus Fröhlich-Gildhoff from the Center for Child and Youth Research at the Evangelische Hochschule Freiburg, on Tuesday.

There is a "danger that the day-care centers will turn from places of learning and living for children and families to pure storage facilities".

The appeal will be sent to the federal and state ministries as well as the local political umbrella organizations, it said.

According to Fröhlich-Gildhoff, the appeal was signed by 109 professors from early childhood education, and 50 course coordinators and academic staff also supported it.

They call for significantly improved financial and professional efforts to strengthen the daycare system.

According to the scientists, the proportion of mentally stressed children has increased from 20 to 30 percent as a result of the corona measures.

There are clear indications of increased tension in families and an increase in domestic violence.

In addition, the shortage of skilled workers has worsened drastically.

According to conservative estimates, by 2025 there will be a shortage of 179,000 educators in day-care centers, particularly in the western federal states.

Against the commitments in the coalition agreement

The scientists call for pedagogical specialists to be relieved by assistant and administrative staff.

In the medium and long term, the training capacities should be increased significantly, and foreign qualifications should be made possible across the board.

"Substantial investments are now necessary and, in the medium term, a continuous increase in resources for the system of early childhood education, care and upbringing".

The childhood educators welcome the "Good Daycare Law", which should be continued with expanded financial resources.

They also rate the “Language Day Care Centers” and “Skilled Workers Campaign” initiatives positively.

The opposition in the Bundestag attacked Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) in the budget debate for the cancellation of the federal program "Language Daycare Centers" and the family policy of the coalition.

The family policy spokeswoman for the Union faction, Silvia Breher (CDU), accused her of not keeping to the promises in the coalition agreement and of destroying successful structures.

"Language is the basis for everything (...) and that's exactly what you end," said Breher on Tuesday.

Paus speaks of error

The deputy leader of the left, Gesine Lötzsch, called it a "fatal signal" to end the program.

"If you built just one less submarine, you would have the money for this language program."

The federal program for the promotion of "language day-care centers" expires at the end of the year - since 2016 the federal government has been financing additional staff at day-care centers for language development, especially at facilities with many children with language support needs.

Paus spoke of a mistake with regard to the “language daycare centers”.

These would not be abolished.

In the next two years, four billion euros will be spent and invested in the quality of child day care.

"The states now have it in their hands to consolidate the promotion of language education with the help of federal funds (...).

We are making the money available, but now the countries have to do it together with us.”

The federal budget foresees expenditure of almost 12.9 billion euros for the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs in the coming year, after around 12.6 billion euros in the current year.

The largest single item is parental allowance at almost 8.3 billion euros (2022: 7.7 billion).

The state pays this as wage replacement benefit when mothers and fathers take parental leave.