Cost explosion in the daycare and school sectors: What's next, Lower Saxony?

Cost explosion in the daycare and school sectors: What's next, Lower Saxony?

The municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia will face enormous financial challenges in the coming years. The district administrator of the Harburg district, Rainer Rempe, warns of dramatic budget deficits of 37 million euros in 2026 and even 47 million euros in 2027. A decisive reason is new legal requirements from the state and federal government, which burden municipalities with additional expenses. The introduction of non-contributory daycare centers and the planned all-day care in primary schools are particularly important.

The pressure on the municipalities' coffers is increased by the mandatory legal right to full-day care, which will come into force for the first grade from August 1, 2026 and will be extended to grades one to four by 2029. Nationwide, only part of the need is currently being met, as around 1.8 million children of primary school age are currently cared for all day, which corresponds to only 56 percent of all children in this age group. So there is still room for improvement here to increase the quota. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has planned an investment volume of 3.5 billion euros for the expansion of all-day care by 2029 in order to support municipalities, even if uncertainties remain about the specific financial contributions. Information from bmbfsfj.de shows that these funds will not only support the expansion of new places, but also the operation.

Financial uncertainties and outlook

The situation is particularly explosive in the Harburg district, where the “school authority model” for all-day care was decided on in December 2024. Nevertheless, there are reports of a possible increase in the district levy by six percentage points, which could result in an additional burden of 4.5 to five million euros for the city of Buchholz. The First City Councilor Dirk Hirsch expressed concern that this increase would further exacerbate the city's financial problems, while in Winsen, with a burden of around 3.6 million euros in the result budget, investments must be canceled and funding for clubs reviewed, as Mayor André Wiese emphasizes.

In addition, it remains unclear to what extent the state government will be able to implement new regulations for the distribution of funds in a timely manner. Although 142 million euros in additional funds are earmarked for the municipalities, districts have to prepare for less support. These uncertainties make municipal planning considerably more difficult. The state's financial equalization is also uncertain in terms of the districts' planning security.

On the way to full-day care

There is still a ray of hope. The investment program that has already been approved will support the expansion of all-day care in the long term. The federal government is planning to extend the program until the end of 2029. Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien emphasizes that the efforts of the states and municipalities to expand all-day education and care offerings have already shown promising progress. In recent years, many places have been created to meet increasing demand. But there is still a lot to do.

The challenges therefore should not be underestimated, especially in view of the imminent introduction of the legal right to full-day care. This in particular could have an impact on the financial situation of the municipalities. It remains to be seen whether the promised federal funds will actually relieve the burden on communities.

For everyone involved it means: plan well, make further efforts and prepare as best as possible for the coming changes. Will the effort invested be able to compensate for the financial difficulties? The next few months will show how the situation will develop.

For detailed information on the legal changes and the financial framework, you can read the articles from kreiszeitung-wochenblatt.de, bmbfsfj.de and federalgovernment.de visit.