Daycare children in Bremen: number explodes – city under pressure!

Daycare children in Bremen: number explodes – city under pressure!

What a positive turnaround in the Bremen daycare landscape! According to recent reports from buten and within The number of children in day care in the state of Bremen has increased by almost 39 percent since 2013. A total of almost 29,000 children are now in care, which makes the situation much more relaxed than it was a few years ago. For comparison: in 2013 there were fewer than 21,000 children.

Growth is particularly strong in the municipality of Bremen, where the number of daycare children rose by 40.4 percent, while Bremerhaven grew somewhat more slowly at 29.5 percent. This is also shown by the results of the meeting of the education deputation, where the education authority discussed current developments. During her term in office, the Senator for Children and Education, Sascha Aulepp (SPD), has repeatedly emphasized how urgently daycare places are needed. However, the situation now seems to have eased significantly this year.

Care capacities are growing

How bildungsklick.de reported, a total of 23,919 registrations were recorded in the main registration phase of the 2025/26 kindergarten year. The available places in the daycare centers, however, amount to 25,605. This means that there is enough space for the little ones. What is particularly pleasing is the massive expansion of 14 new daycare centers in the last two years, which has created over 1,000 additional childcare places.

Despite these positive developments, there are still challenges to overcome. In districts such as Gröpelingen, Huchting, Walle and Blumenthal, the need for daycare places is still high. Here the proportion of three to six year olds who have no place is a shocking 20 percent. In addition, a high proportion of children with a migration history has been identified: around two thirds of the children in Bremen have a migration background, which is more than twice as high as the national average. The education authority is therefore planning targeted measures to support families without a daycare place and to provide multilingual information about existing offers.

Language support needs in focus

Another important aspect that is under discussion is the increasing number of children in need of support. Deficits are particularly evident in mandatory language tests, and many of these children do not yet have access to a daycare center. The authority therefore proactively registers these children with daycare centers to ensure that they receive the necessary support. This highlights the need to systematically examine where the need is greatest.

However, the increase in childcare numbers in Bremen contrasts with the nationwide situation, where the number of daycare children has “only” grown by 20 percent, as statistics show destatis.de can be viewed.

In summary, it shows that Bremen is on the right track in early education, even if there are still some challenges ahead. Education policy will continue to be closely monitored to ensure that all children receive the best possible support and are supported from an early age.