MFG criticizes discrimination against childminders
Not only children lose their childcare place, but also childminders lose their job, which combines family life with work. And many mothers are now worried about their jobs because they no longer have a place to care for their children. That’s certainly not how Kinderland No.1 works.
LAbg. Dagmar Häusler, MFG-Austria Federal Party Chairman Deputy.
Upper Austria/Austria (OTS) – This is probably not how “Kinderland No.1” works: “State Councilor Christine Haberlander has consciously accepted the development in the framework conditions for childminders. “We have been warning about this impending collateral damage for months,” says LAbg. Dagmar Häusler, MFG-Austria Federal Party Chairman Deputy. The care of 480 small children is about to end: “Thank you for nothing, Ms. Haberlander!”
These are sentences from the responsible state councilor Christine Haberlander that sound like mockery: “I am pleased that we are taking the next step with better conditions for childminders and childminders. With the new regulation, we are ensuring that it stays that way in the future. The supporting organizations will be strengthened and even greater quality will be ensured in the care of our children,” said Haberlander in a full-bodied press release in March 2024.
What a farce: This “extra” in quality is now causing the end of the care of 480 small children at the “Aktion Tagesmütter Oberösterreich” association, which – due to financial constraints – has to stop part of its offer. All of this because the responsible regional councilor Christine Haberlander per In April 2024, the funding of childminders’ associations was changed completely without necessity. Only the hours supervised, vacation times or sick leave of childminders are no longer taken into account – nor is it clear that this is also the case Many others – especially small, flexible sponsoring associations – no longer have enough money. “The new tariff regulations leave us no other choice,” says the Upper Austria Daycare Campaign mentioned in a letter.
“It’s not just children who lose their place in care;
–LAbg. Daymar Häusler, MFG-Austria Federal Party Chairman Deputy.
Childminders have a job that combines family life with work.
And many mothers are now worried about their jobs because they no longer have a place to care for their children. Kinderland No. 1 certainly doesn’t work like that.”
Dagmar Häusler calls this development a “catastrophe that we have been predicting for months.” The children’s education and care amendment provides for childcare in playrooms to be offered free of charge, but care by childminders is no longer supported. As a result, many parents simply can no longer afford to look after their children here, which leads to the aforementioned financial problems. “Not only do children lose their childcare place, but childminders also lose their job, which combines family life with work. And many mothers are now worried about their jobs because they will soon no longer have a place to care for their children. “Kinderland No. 1 certainly doesn’t work like that,” says Dagmar Häusler.
The “Aktion Tagesmütter Oberösterreich” association has been intervening since the beginning of the year to ensure that the current subsidies from the state will no longer be sufficient. All cries for help and appeals went unheard by Haberlander & Co. and were even denied. The association itself showed possibilities and paths – such as flat rates to reimburse administrative costs, but Haberlander did not listen to any of these. So there was no choice but to pull the ripcord.
“The fact that the ÖVP is now claiming that the club has been mismanaged is an absolute outrage,” said Dagmar Häusler. The club in question has done well for 45 years and does not deserve such treatment. It was also vehemently pointed out that with the new tariff regulations, operations could no longer be carried out in the usual way.
Dagmar Häusler and MFG, on the other hand, promise those affected full support: “We as MFG are 100 percent behind the idea of childminder care because it provides an extremely high level of individual and targeted care that is fully compatible with working hours and The realities of life of the parents – and not to rigid opening times and officially prescribed “mass care.” It should not go unmentioned that this measure by Haberlander is another piece of the mosaic on the way to putting childcare in state hands – with all its negative side effects. Dagmar Häusler: “Individuality is also becoming less and less popular in the care and upbringing of children, a frightening idea that everything is being placed in the hands of the state. Greetings from the GDR.”
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