High hospitalization rates among the elderly are prevalent.
In the heart of Europe, Germany is grappling with a staff shortage crisis in its kindergartens. Despite extensive research, there is no direct information specifically about the impact of these shortages on kindergarten operations in Germany between August 2024 and July 2025.
However, general knowledge up to mid-2025 suggests that Germany has faced challenges with staffing in early childhood education due to demographic changes, increased demand, and sometimes slow processes for recognizing foreign qualifications. These shortages typically result in reduced opening hours, larger group sizes, or waiting lists for kindergarten places.
Recent developments, though, paint a more detailed picture. Since the beginning of October 2024, data has been recorded uniformly online nationwide. This data shows that during the 2023/24 kindergarten year, the numbers of staff shortages were at a similarly high level, with around 34,000 cases reported in the year from August 2024 to July 2025.
The data indicates that the majority of kindergarten closures were due to short-term illnesses among educators. Closing individual groups was much more common than complete closures of kindergartens. In some extreme cases, nearly 1,000 kindergartens had to close completely due to staff absence.
To address this issue, the state government has enacted a new personnel regulation to ease the staff situation in kindergartens. This regulation allows additional staff to be flexibly deployed from other pedagogical areas in case of shortages, aiming to give the care operation more flexibility.
Despite these measures, the situation remains challenging. Overtime is being worked in kindergartens due to staff shortages. Families are taking turns caring for their children in some kindergartens, and many affected by staff shortages have reported to youth welfare offices that parents are asked to pick up their children earlier.
It is important to note that the recording of reports does not have a statistical function, as pointed out by the Ministry of Family Affairs. Furthermore, the data is recorded in a slightly modified form, making comparison more difficult.
As of now, there is no information available about any plans or initiatives to address the staff shortages or the number of children affected by these closures. However, the new personnel regulation is intended to provide a step towards alleviating the crisis and ensuring the smooth operation of kindergartens in Germany.
- The staff shortages in Germany's kindergartens could potentially impact the nation's wider healthcare and wellness sector, as educators might be seeking alternative employment in wellness-related industries such as science, health-and-wellness, and fitness-and-exercise, given the stress and demands of their current roles.
- To foster a healthier and more productive workplace in kindergartens, it would be beneficial to implement programs focusing on workplace wellness and stress management, which is a crucial aspect of the science of human behavior and can contribute positively to the overall health-and-wellness of both educators and the children they care for.
