Childcare registration in plain language

Every child in North Rhine-Westphalia has a right to a childcare place from their 1st birthday.

• Who can go to childcare?
• Where do you register your child for childcare?
• How do you register your child?
• What does the childcare cost?
• Where can you get help?

All children from the age of 1 have the right to go to childcare.

The care can be, for example:

• A daycare center (the long word for this is Kinder-Tages-Einrichtung)
• Child day care
  

Child day care means: The child does not go to daycare.

But another person looks after the child.

The person is called: day-care father or day-care mother.

From the 3rd birthday:

The child has a right to a place in a daycare center.

You want to place your child in childcare?

Then you must register this with the Youth Welfare Office.
Important:

Register at least 6 months before the child is to go to childcare.

The youth welfare office would like to know:

• What type of care do you want: daycare center or child daycare?
• How many hours per week should the care be?

• Write a letter to the youth welfare office.
• Or send an e-mail.
• Or use the online registration of your city.
  

The registration process is slightly different in every city.

The parents have to pay money for the childcare.

This depends, for example, on:

• How much money the parents earn;
• How many children the parents have;
• How long the child stays in childcare each day;
• How old the child is;

The last 2 years before school, parents do not have to pay any money for kindergarten.
Sometimes it is even free earlier.

Do you have questions about registering for childcare?

Then the youth welfare office in your city can help.

Don't know where the nearest youth welfare office is?

You can search online:

The website is: www.unterstuetzung-die-ankommt.de

Enter your zip code or place of residence.

The website is not in plain language.