Grüne on families

The Greens want each staff member in nurseries, daycare centers and after-school care to look after fewer children. Because fewer children are being born, childcare workers are not to be laid off but used to make groups smaller.

Daycare groups are often too big. The Greens want smaller groups. Fewer children are being born. Still, all childcare workers should keep their jobs. Then they have more time for each child.

The platform names staff-to-child ratios of 1:4 in nurseries, 1:10 in daycare and 1:17 in after-school care. A daycare “Zukunftspakt” (pact for the future) is to write standards and quality into law and link them to educational standards. A funding program is to support meals from regional, organic production, following the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society. Home-based childcare providers who meet professional standards are to be paid accordingly. After-school care is to be treated as a place of education and tied more closely to elementary schools.

The Greens want to give every child a legal claim to a full-day childcare place and to keep daycare free of fees. Care is to follow families' needs, and parents should no longer have to file burdensome applications.

Daycare should stay free for parents. Every child should have a right to a full-day place. Parents then have to fill out fewer forms. Children with disabilities should be able to take part everywhere.

The platform commits to daycare without parental fees. The entitlement to a full-day place is to apply to all children and at the same time relieve parents of application paperwork. Inclusion in early childhood education is to be implemented across the state on a binding basis.

The Greens want to write children's rights into the state constitution and give young people more say in decisions. Preventive child protection would be expanded, including Childhood Houses for children who have experienced violence. Youth culture would be supported so that fewer young people move away.

The Greens want to put children's rights in the state constitution. Young people should have more say. Children who have suffered violence should get help in a safe place. There should be youth clubs and sports sites everywhere.

Each regional court district would get a Childhood House, where victims of physical and sexual violence are cared for by different specialists in one place. Children's and youth parliaments would be strengthened. Youth clubs, associations and venues for culture, music and sports are to be available statewide and easy to access. For youth culture, the program plans a dedicated unit in the state chancellery, a review of state-owned buildings for possible shared use, and sufficient funding from the state and municipalities.

The Greens want to expand social infrastructure for families. The 16 pilot centers for children and families would be made permanent and gradually rolled out across the state. Counseling services would be adequately funded everywhere.

The Greens want to strengthen families. There are 16 centers for children and families. These should stay, and more should be added. Advice on debt, addiction and other worries should be available everywhere.

Social, debt, addiction and psychosocial counseling would receive adequate funding statewide and could also be offered digitally. For self-help, the program plans a state-level coordination office and contact points in every county and independent city. Collective bargaining coverage in social institutions would be strengthened. The program justifies this by pointing to rising living costs and insecure incomes that put many families under pressure.

The Greens want care work to be better organized, recognized and supported. Siblings should be entitled to full-day childcare during the mother's maternity protection period, and families should get local support centers. According to the platform, there is no equality unless care work is shared fairly.

Many people look after children or care for relatives. The Greens want to make this easier for them. There should be help centers close to home. Siblings should get full-day childcare while the mother is on maternity leave.

Local support centers are meant to help families with childcare, nursing care and everyday matters. Daycare centers are to get better staff-to-child ratios. In the public sector, flexible hours and return programs after parental leave are meant to make work more family-friendly. State funding for companies is to be tied to gender equality standards. A statewide pilot project is to help young parents fit work to their life situation, as they choose, through flexible childcare.