In childcare, legal entitlements and flowery declarations of how important children are face a completely different reality: waiting lists that are always full;
Childcare ratios that are exhausted beyond the child's well-being;
badly paid teachers who work at the limit.
The list of deficiencies is well known, and every federal government is trying to counteract this with new well-sounding laws - after the "Good Daycare Law" of the grand coalition, the traffic light is now trying a "Daycare Quality Law".
But the success may once again be doubted.
Financial need greater
On the one hand, it is questionable whether the four billion euros that are to be invested in day-care centers over the next two years will be sufficient.
Parent representatives assume a need of 15 billion euros per year.
The Bertelsmann Foundation has calculated that 13.8 billion euros per year alone would be necessary to adequately staff all daycare centers.
In addition, the states can use part of the federal funds to finance exemption from contributions.
This does not help the quality and capacity of the day-care centers.
A contribution that is graded according to income would be much more reasonable for the parents than long waiting times or poor facilities.
If the federal government gives money to the states, it could make the contribution a condition.
But the federal and state governments could not agree.