Male childcare workers in Germany: The facts

Supported: Since 2005 the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has been trying, with various funding programs such as the "Boys' Day" or the initiative "More men for daycares", to encourage men to take up the educator profession more often.

Room for improvement: Not even four percent of childcare workers in German daycare centers are male.

Progress: For about ten years the numbers of men in childcare professions have been rising slowly but steadily.

Underpaid: Childcare workers earn on average 2.500 Euro gross in West Germany and 2.250 Euro gross in East Germany. Since 2009 wages have risen significantly, but they still deter many young people of training age.

Vocational training: About 70 percent of employed childcare workers have completed relevant training, 30 percent are trained child carers or career-changers from other professions. 0,5 percent of childcare workers hold a university degree in pedagogy or educational sciences.

Subjective: There is no scientific evidence that male childcare workers make a difference in daycare provision. However, it is accepted that women and men handle situations differently.

Why are male childcare workers an asset to kindergarten?

Staff shortage:

The reason is banal, but male childcare workers are also in demand because the demand for new daycare staff continues to rise. Men in childcare professions will simply be necessary in the future to enable comprehensive childcare provision.

Equality:

Just as women want to take up male-dominated professions, men should be able to work in traditionally female professions. In everyday daycare the foremost thing is the image conveyed to children: men naturally take on childcare and typical gender stereotypes are challenged.

Diversity:

Often male childcare workers bring new opportunities to the daycare: alongside reading aloud and playing, they handle roughhousing and lively physical games with the children. The different focuses of male and female educators make care more varied and diverse for children and adults.

Early childhood development:

Experts consider it proven that men play an important role in early childhood education: as reference persons and play partners they offer different perspectives than women. As more and more toddlers spend the majority of their day in crèches and daycare, it is becoming increasingly important that male childcare workers are also represented in care facilities.

Why do men become childcare workers?

That's the question many parents secretly ask themselves when they meet a male educator in their child's daycare. The answer is in most cases rather unspectacular: just like women, men choose the educator profession because they enjoy working with people, because they want to give something to children or pass on their own positive childhood experiences. Many completed an internship or the federal voluntary service in a daycare before training and found that they enjoy educational work.

Many men as career changers

For men who switch into the educator profession as career changers, appreciation often plays a role. They were not satisfied in their previous job and are looking for a task in which their efforts are immediately recognized. Often the desire to work as an educator grows among career changers after they have become fathers themselves.

Male childcare workers – concerns and fears

When men choose a career as an educator, they usually face the same problem as women: the salary is barely enough to live on, all the more so because educators are often employed part-time. At the same time the educator profession has a rather low social status – paradoxical when you consider how much value is placed on optimal child-rearing and support.

A far bigger problem for male educators, however, is the initial mistrust of many parents. Not a few put men who choose to work in kindergarten under general suspicion at first: What if they get too close to my child? In many institutions men are therefore particularly reserved, do not change diapers and also avoid intense physical contact when roughhousing and cuddling. The constant caution in everyday daycare and the obvious mistrust can be discouraging especially for young educators. In general there is still considerable room for development regarding the gender issue.

Image credits

Man and children playing ball © liderina - stock.adobe.com

Childcare worker doing gymnastics with children on the floor © Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com

Childcare worker painting with children using brush and paint © Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com