The childcare challenge

"So, have you signed your child up for nursery yet?"

At 7 months pregnant with my first child, I literally almost fell off my chair when a friend asked me this question. Say what? No, not yet, I am more concerned about buying cots, car seats, cute outfits, and first and foremost, getting this big baby out of my belly.  Plus I don’t plan on going back to work for a whole year, so surely that gives me enough time to think about childcare options.

“No, really, you have to sign up now and you have to sign up to all of them to secure even the remotest chance of a place. There are waiting lists of at least a year in all nurseries in the Heidelberg area.”

It turned out she had signed her daughter up when she was only 3 months pregnant. For goodness sake, your child has barely been conceived, you definitely aren’t showing yet and you have probably only just started to tell everyone you are pregnant. Are you insane?

Of course, when you are told something like this, you start to think, worry, and panic inevitably kicks in. I definitely want to go back to work, so I need one of those places. One of those places is MINE. I went on the Internet and wrote down a list of all nurseries and their phone numbers. I proceeded to phone them all and get my name on every waiting list there was – for the full day, morning, afternoon, extended morning spots, you name it, I signed up for it.

In doing so, I also tried to find out what my chances were like; still convinced that my friend must be overreacting and exaggerating the entire situation. After being told by several that I was number 150 + on the waiting list or that they couldn’t tell me, because of data protection, or that they generally only give six weeks’ notice if a place becomes available, I finally understood what she was talking about. How are you supposed to explain that to your boss? It seemed hopeless - what a nightmare.

Luckily my company offers a limited number of nursery places in the area and I was fortunate to be given one. This saved me from the fate of other friends, who out of sheer desperation, were forced to literally beg the nurseries for a place by phoning incessantly, praising the nursery staff and facilities; basically doing whatever it took to get one of the sought-after spots. I never took my name off any of the lists and believe it or not, at the time I went back to work, I hadn’t received a single phone call from a nursery to offer me a place. It was only 3 or 4 months later that I was finally offered a few places directly from the nurseries themselves. I know it’s much easier in Spain – imagine the luxury of actually being able to choose which nursery you think is most suitable for your child. I have no idea what the situation is like in the UK.

I fell off my chair again when I found out how much the nursery was going to cost me. There are, of course, state-funded nurseries (but only for single parents, people on income support, etc.), otherwise, you have to pay for a privately-run one. For a full-time spot from 7.30am – 6pm, you are looking at paying between 500 and 1000 Euros (nearer the 1000) per month.

Given that in 2011, the average gross salary in Germany was 28,300 Euros (according to the Bundesministerium der Finanzen), it is no wonder that many German mothers don’t go back to work, because they simply can’t afford the childcare. Take off roughly 40% tax from this amount, divide this by 12 months and you have a disposable income of say 1415 Euros per month. No wonder either then, that the birth rate in Germany is the lowest in Europe; the average person can simply not afford more than one child, if that. Merkel, however, is on the case, and plans to provide more nursery places, so that by 2013, every child between the ages of one and three will have the right to a place; let’s see if she also reduces how much they cost.