The number of working mothers has been rising steadily for years, while the number of working fathers remains constantly high. The question of how to reconcile family and career is therefore an issue for all parents and has not lost any of its topicality. The "flexible childcare" project group has conducted an online survey entitled "Time for childcare? - Wishes and needs" and launched it in fall 2023.
Survey by the women's network StädteRegion Aachen e. V.
The focus was placed on the organization of childcare and the needs of parents of underage children under the age of 14, with the aim of obtaining a situation report for the city and city region of Aachen. What exactly are the childcare needs? Which support systems are used? Where is there a need for improvement? The individual results are as follows:
- The majority of parents are very satisfied or satisfied with the care available for their children, across all forms of institutional care. A good report card for the city and city region of Aachen.
- Most families are supported by grandparents, who stabilize the care situation to a considerable extent, but are not always available for all families.
- The possibility of working from home or flexitime supports the flexibility that is required by families in reality. However, the use of these working models is not possible in all sectors.
The survey was conducted online between August 15 and October 15, 2023. The survey offer was taken up by 696 people with a total of 1,090 children. It is a non-representative survey. The main topics were questions on institutional care, supplementary care, satisfaction, wishes and the operational situation. The opportunity to provide further information and assessments in open questions was actively used and personal views on the topic were contributed.
The women's network would like to thank everyone for their participation.