Daycare centers are less likely to respond to inquiries about a child care slot from parents with Turkish-sounding names than to inquiries from parents with German-sounding names. Furthermore, the responses are less likely to indicate that a slot may be available or to provide helpful information. For their study, the research team sent a fictitious email to approximately 18,000 daycare centers in Germany. In regions with comparatively fewer staff, the unequal treatment was more pronounced.
In Germany, every child has a legal right to daycare from their first birthday. Studies have shown that parents with and without a migration background are similarly likely to want a child care slot. Nevertheless, in 2023, only 22 percent of children under the age of three with a migration background were enrolled in daycare, compared with 45 percent of children without a migration background.
A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the ifo Institute, the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), and the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) has now investigated the role of the phase preceding a formal application. The research team sent a fictitious inquiry from a parent to more than 18,000 daycare centers in Germany. In the inquiry, the parent asked whether a slot would be available in about nine months for a child approximately one and a half years old and how to apply. The email was signed by a person with either a German-sounding or a Turkish-sounding name. The emails were assigned to the daycare centers at random.
About 71 percent of daycare centers responded to inquiries from senders with German-sounding names, while about 66 percent responded to identical emails from senders with Turkish-sounding names. The research team also examined the content of the responses. Parents with Turkish-sounding names were offered a slot about 20 percent less often in the replies and received helpful information 7 percent less often. The emails from the daycare centers were also shorter on average and were less likely to use an encouraging tone.
"Even before they have submitted an application, families are treated unequally in their search for a child care slot," says study author Philipp Lergetporer, Professor of Economics at TUM (Campus Heilbronn). "This is a major problem, as early childhood education in a daycare facility can help level the opportunities for children from disadvantaged families."
Daycare centers likely fear additional workload
The study also provides insights into possible reasons for the unequal treatment. In counties where more qualified staff were available per child, the disparities in response rates and slot offers were smaller than in counties with a less favorable staff-to-child ratio. The unequal treatment was also less pronounced in wealthier municipalities.
"Where staff and resources are scarce, the disparity is greater," says Lergetporer. "One plausible explanation is that daycare staff fear communication difficulties and thus additional work when dealing with parents who have Turkish-sounding names. When struggling with resource shortages, they may consequently opt for other families."
In such conscious or unconscious decisions, even a high level of parental education did not make a difference. For some of the fictitious inquiries, the research team had indicated in the email signature that the parent held a university degree, but this had no statistically significant effect on the response rates.
The researchers did, however, identify another statistical association involving regional political attitudes. In districts where right-wing parties received a higher share of the vote, unequal treatment was more pronounced, particularly in the likelihood of receiving a slot offer. "We assume that the expectations of parents, as perceived by daycare center administrators, may play a role in the selection process," says Lergetporer. He also emphasizes: "The study does not prove a causal link between unequal treatment and fundamental prejudices against families of Turkish origin."
One person usually makes the decision
A supplementary survey of approximately 450 daycare center directors reveals the general conditions governing the allocation of childcare spots. 86 percent of daycare centers decide independently how to allocate slots, and in 79 percent of centers, one person makes the decision. Fewer than 10 percent of daycare centers are subject to binding guidelines from their provider or local municipality. 85 percent regularly receive emails from parents - an average of 14 requests for information per week.
The research team therefore recommends:
- more staff for child care facilities
- centralized, standardized allocation procedures, for example through a municipal registration portal with consistent deadlines and transparent criteria
- a monitoring system that systematically records inquiries, applications, and offers, thereby showing whether the legal entitlement is being fulfilled equally for all social groups
- support for daycare staff in handling additional tasks that they expect when assisting families who face language barriers
"A key to greater equity in access to child care is reducing the workload of daycare center directors and introducing standardized procedures based on transparent criteria," says Lergetporer. "From both a social and an economic perspective, the legal right to a child care slot should not exist only on paper."
