Child care

Combining family and career is encouraged in Germany. Are you parents and do both want to work full-time? Do you need a good and reliable day-care centre for your children? The range of day-care facilities in Rhineland-Palatinate is constantly being expanded, giving parents the option to choose between a variety of child care models.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, you will find various child care options. The choice of facility depends on different factors: Location, size, daily child care hours, age of admission, educational concept, body (church, private, state or corporate facility), costs, etc.

Day nursery

Up to the age of 3 years, infants can be looked after in a day nursery. The admission age varies depending on the facility. Some nurseries accept infants starting from the age of 3 months, others from 6 months or one year. The opening hours may also vary. 

Day-care facility for children

In Rhineland-Palatinate, children from the age of 2 years can be taken care of at a day-care centre (also called Kindergarten). There are no day-care costs in Rhineland-Palatinate, which is special in comparison to other federal states in Germany where you generally need to pay a day-care fee. This applies to kindergarten attendance for all children from the age of 2 years until they enter school. Private day-care centres, however, are not free of charge. Parents are not obligated to sign up their children for day-care. 

A kindergarten is structured into small groups of children. This way, children learn to interact with others at an early age. Although every child is entitled to go to a kindergarten, there are not always enough places for every child. Therefore, you should sign up your child for kindergarten early. There are different types of kindergartens with different educational approaches. Some kindergartens offer half day-care, other day-care centres (so called KITAs) offer full day care. Inclusive kindergartens are also becoming more and more popular. Here, children with special care needs are looked after together with children that do not need any special attendance.

Childminders

A childminder looks after small groups of children up to the age of 3 years. The groups are smaller than those at the day nursery. This enables a more intensive and personalised care. Normally, the childminder looks after the children at his or her own house or at rented facilities. However, it is also possible for parents to arrange their child or children to be looked after at their own house.

All-day primary school

Since the 2018/19 school year, most primary schools in Rhineland-Palatinate offer all-day childcare , so your career can be easily combined with taking care of your school-age children. They usually offer homework supervision after lunch as well as various activities in the fields of sports, arts, music as well as MINT. In case a primary school or secondary school does not provide afternoon childcare, there is also the possibility to have your child looked after at an after-school care centre called “Hort”.