Politicians have been late in creating childcare places for years. This is now also noticeable on the labor market: the shortage of skilled workers is exacerbated by the lack of childcare options. More and more experts are drawing attention to this and are finally calling for a turnaround.
“In a recent survey of primary education, we were ranked 20th out of 29 countries. That really says it all,” said book author and education critic Andreas Salcher in an interview with “Krone”.
The kindergarten needs to be renovated
Kindergarten in particular needs to be expanded and vastly improved. It needs individual support, more educators and better pay for them. “In our kindergartens, 20 children are cared for by a teacher and an assistant. That makes individual support impossible.” On the one hand, this makes the parents dissatisfied and is detrimental to the children. “Children who do not have German as their native language take their language deficit with them to primary school and can never make up for it.”
Skill jungle as Gordian knot
Salcher demands that politicians finally take the money into their own hands and cut this “Gordian knot” of the competence jungle. An ongoing study by the economic research institute “Eco Austria” clearly shows that there is a link between the lack of childcare places and the shortage of skilled workers. 60 percent of women give caring responsibilities as a reason for part-time work.
Part-time work exacerbates the shortage of skilled labour
AMS boss Johannes Kopf recently confirmed this: the problems in the labor market cannot be solved by labor migration alone. Full day care is required. An EU comparison shows how late Austria is here: the agreed “Barcelona target” for 2010 (one third of children under the age of 3 in care) has still not been achieved in 2023. While the target for other European countries has been raised to 45 percent by 2030, it has been lowered from 33 to 31.9 percent in Austria. The care rate in Austria is currently 29.9 percent.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
