SPD on families

The SPD wants to improve midwifery care and anchor midwife-led delivery rooms in federal law. The goal is for every woman to be cared for by her own midwife during birth.

The SPD wants to support midwives. Midwives help women give birth. Every woman should have her own midwife during birth. Midwives should earn enough money.

At the federal level, the SPD is pushing for adequate pay under the national midwifery services contract. In the state, it plans a pilot project for a public-office midwife modeled on Bremen to improve birth care, postnatal care and recruitment. It wants to examine how the family midwives program can be made more attractive for midwives. In Rostock, the two large hospitals are to work together in a parent-child center. Funding for fertility treatment is to continue.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for a higher Elterngeld (parental allowance): 80 percent of previous income, capped at 3,200 euros. The minimum rate is also to rise, and the amounts are to be adjusted for inflation every year.

The SPD wants higher parental allowance. Parents should get 80 percent of their earlier pay. The top amount should be 3,200 euros. The allowance should rise with prices every year. The federal government decides on this.

According to the program, the minimum and maximum rates have not been raised since Elterngeld was introduced in 2007; that is to change so families can plan with more certainty. The state government is to press at the federal level for a replacement rate of 80 percent and a ceiling of 3,200 euros. Annual inflation adjustments are to be added. The SPD defines family as any place where people take responsibility for each other and wants room for caring for children and relatives in need of care.

The SPD wants a second Childhood-Haus for children who have experienced violence in the state and seeks federal funding for it. The state office KipsFam, which supports children from families affected by mental illness or addiction, is to be funded beyond 2027.

The SPD wants to protect children better. There should be a second Childhood-Haus in the state. Children who suffered violence get help there. Children with sick or addicted parents should also keep getting help.

The Childhood-Haus in Schwerin is an interdisciplinary contact point for children and teenagers who have experienced physical or sexual violence. The SPD wants a second facility of this kind and federal funding. Funding for the state office KipsFam is to continue after 2027. At the federal level, the SPD wants states, municipalities and social insurance bodies to draw up an overall plan for these children. The rules of the state child protection law, which calls on providers to have protection plans, are to be developed further.

The SPD regards places for young people as part of basic public services and wants to strengthen youth clubs, sociocultural centers and open meeting places, especially in rural areas. The 50-50 taxi ticket for young people is to continue.

The SPD wants more meeting places for young people. These include youth clubs and open spaces. This matters most in the countryside. Young people should still get taxi rides at half price at night.

The program explicitly counts queer and feminist facilities among these places, as safe spaces. With the 50-50 taxi ticket, people aged 16 to 25 pay half the fare through an app and the state pays the rest; the offer is to be made better known. Together with providers, the SPD wants to examine how youth hostels and school camp houses can be kept. Cooperation with youth associations and the Landesjugendring (state youth council) will continue. Programs against bullying, cyberbullying and violence and for mental health are to keep receiving support.

The SPD wants to keep nursery, kindergarten and after-school care, including during school vacations, free for parents even under pressure to save. In the platform's view, this relieves families, increases equal opportunity and makes adequate pay for staff possible.

Parents in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern pay nothing for daycare. The SPD wants to keep it that way. This applies to nursery, kindergarten and after-school care. The SPD says all children should have equal chances.

Free daycare is to remain despite the pressure to consolidate the budget; savings are to be made elsewhere. The SPD wants to monitor and evaluate the nationwide entitlement to all-day care, which gives children their own right to an after-school place. After-school care and schools are to cooperate as equals with the child at the center. The state and municipalities spend more than one billion euros on early education and care.

The SPD wants to keep reducing group sizes in daycare and retain staff in the system despite falling numbers of children. Support needs are to be identified earlier and language education strengthened.

The SPD wants smaller groups in daycare. Staff should stay even if there are fewer children. Children who need support should get help earlier. Children should learn to speak better.

Smaller groups in nurseries and after-school care are agreed for 2027; further improvements for all three daycare areas are to follow depending on the budget. The basis is the results of the "Gute Kita 2030" forum, to be implemented with municipalities, providers, unions and parents. The "Bildungskonzeption 0-10" (education framework for ages 0 to 10) will be reviewed, language daycare centers are to be kept and expanded, and the SPD will examine how preschool can strengthen basic skills. The training institute Schabernack e.V. will continue to be funded, and child and family centers stay and can grow where needed.