The Daycare Quality Act will bring a total of around eight billion euros to early childhood education between 2023 and 2026 – but many institutions do not yet know exactly how they can use this opportunity specifically for their kindergarten.
This article provides a practical explanation of what the Daycare Quality Act entails, how it relates to the Good Daycare Act, and how you can translate funding into targeted quality improvements – including better room acoustics.
Why is the daycare quality law so important for daycare centers?
With the Daycare Quality Act, the federal government is supporting the states with around eight billion euros from 2023 to 2026 to further develop the quality and participation in daycare.
The aim is to enable all children – regardless of where they live – to have comparably good access to early childhood education and care.
At the same time, many daycare centers are under pressure: shortage of skilled workers, increasing demands for inclusion, language support and cooperation with families.
The Daycare Quality Act addresses this issue directly, creating a binding framework in which states and providers can invest specifically in better quality – from staffing ratios to health-promoting conditions.
What exactly is the Daycare Quality Act?
The legal basis is the "Law on the further development of quality and participation in childcare" (KiQuTG), usually referred to as the Childcare Quality Act.
It stipulates that the federal government will provide financial support to the states so that they can systematically improve the quality of daycare centers and childminding services and ensure the participation of all children.
For the years 2023 and 2024, approximately four billion euros were initially made available, which were invested in concrete measures on the ground.
The third law on the further development of quality and participation will continue funding in 2025 and 2026 and will be supplemented by approximately four billion euros.
How is the Daycare Quality Act related to the Good Daycare Act?
The Good Daycare Act (Gute-KiTa-Gesetz) was the first major framework for federal funding for quality improvement and relief from parental contributions, running from 2019 to 2022.
With the Daycare Quality Act, this commitment has been continued since 2023 and is more strongly focused on genuine quality development.
While the Good Daycare Act was also heavily used for contribution relief, the Daycare Quality Act now focuses the funds primarily on pedagogically relevant areas of action such as staff-to-child ratios, language education and daycare management.
Existing measures to relieve parental contributions can continue under certain conditions, but new pure contribution relief measures should no longer be financed from these funds.
Good Daycare Act vs. Daycare Quality Act: A Comparison
| aspect | Good Daycare Act | Daycare Quality Act 2023–2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | Approx. 2019–2022 | 2023–2026 |
| Medium-sized | Several billion euros | Approximately 8 billion euros in total |
| focus | Quality and contribution relief | Primary quality development |
| Target perspective | Getting started with quality improvement | Path to nationwide quality standards |
What specific funding does your kindergarten receive?
Funding for your kindergarten does not come directly from the federal government, but through state programs that are financed by funds from the Daycare Quality Act.
Each federal state concludes its own agreements with the federal government and determines which priorities it will set with the funds.
Typical measures that your kindergarten can benefit from include, for example, additional staff hours, programs to recruit skilled workers, training courses for language education, or projects to better reconcile work and family life.
For daycare centers, it is therefore worthwhile to take a close look at state regulations and funding opportunities in order to identify suitable offers.
Which areas of action will be the focus from 2025 onwards?
With the further development on January 1, 2025, the Daycare Quality Act focuses resources even more strongly on seven priority areas of action.
These fields also form the basis for future nationwide quality standards.
Key areas of action include, among others:
- Services tailored to individual needs, e.g. flexible childcare hours.
- Improvement of the staff-to-child ratio.
- Recruitment and retention of qualified specialists.
- Strengthening the management of daycare centers.
- Needs-based, balanced nutrition and sufficient exercise.
- Language education and language support as a mandatory field of action.
- Strengthening child day care.
From 2025 onwards, all countries will be required to invest in recruiting skilled workers and language education, which significantly enhances language support in daycare centers.
What does this mean for your daycare practice?
Your federal state decides to what extent it expands, for example, the staffing ratio, management release time or language support programs.
Many countries use the funds for things like additional specialist hours, multi-professional teams, or external expert advice.
For daycare center managers, it is worthwhile to actively seek contact with the provider and clarify together which funding programs are relevant for their own location.
The more clearly your institution describes its needs – such as relieving the management, systematic language support or inclusion – the better projects can be aligned with the funding landscape.
Why are room acoustics and sound insulation part of quality?
Quality in early childhood education depends not only on pedagogical concepts and staffing ratios, but also on spatial conditions.
Studies on acoustics in daycare centers show that high noise levels can significantly impair the concentration, speech comprehension and well-being of children and staff.
Especially in group rooms with many hard surfaces, long reverberation times often occur, which "smear" the speech and make listening difficult.
Effective sound insulation with sound absorbers reduces reverberation, improves speech intelligibility and relieves the burden on staff – a clear contribution to quality development in line with the daycare quality law.
The provider FENNEXT offers soundproofing solutions specifically developed for kindergartens, which reduce noise and are also visually appealing to children.
Tailor-made elements and professional advice allow spaces to be designed in such a way that they are both compliant with standards and pedagogically useful.
Practical examples: How daycare centers can use the funding effectively
Many measures that can be funded under the Daycare Quality Act can be easily combined with existing development projects in your facility.
- Additional hours for daycare management to better coordinate quality development processes, team meetings and parental involvement.
- Training courses on everyday integrated language education, supplemented by standardized observation and documentation procedures.
- Projects for inclusive education, e.g. in cooperation with early intervention centers or school preparation.
- Health-promoting measures, such as exercise programs and concepts for balanced nutrition.
- Investments in room acoustics, where acoustic consulting and soundproofing solutions such as FENNEXT soundproofing for daycare centers are used to permanently reduce noise.
When planning noise protection measures, you can integrate them well into a comprehensive quality concept that also includes topics such as speech intelligibility, quiet periods and employee health.
Step-by-step plan for daycare center directors
A structured roadmap helps you to use the daycare quality law not just as background noise, but as a concrete lever for quality improvement.
- Clarify needs: Analyze together with the team where the biggest challenges lie (e.g. shortage of skilled workers, span of control, language support, noise).
- Check state programs: Find out about the funding programs in your state and clarify with the sponsoring organization which programs are suitable for your institution.
- Define goals: Formulate one or two clear development goals, such as more leadership time, mandatory language education, or better room acoustics in the group area.
- Plan measures: Link funding with concrete steps such as further training, additional hours, external expert advice or structural adjustments.
- Ensure documentation: Record measures and results in writing to guarantee transparency towards the sponsoring organization, state authorities and within the team.
- Involve partners: Utilize external expertise, for example in room acoustics and sound insulation from providers such as FENNEXT sound insulation for daycare centers .
Conclusion: Actively use the daycare quality law as an opportunity
The Daycare Quality Act is more than just a funding pot – it is a key building block on the way to nationwide quality standards in early childhood education.
With a total of around eight billion euros from 2023 to 2026, the federal government is sending a clear signal that good early childhood education and participation are a priority.
For kindergartens and daycare centers, this means: Those who honestly analyze their own situation, are familiar with state programs, and link funding to clear development goals can achieve noticeable improvements for children and staff.
In addition to specialist topics, this explicitly includes framework conditions such as room acoustics and noise protection, which can be sustainably improved with professional solutions such as FENNEXT sound insulation for daycare centers .
Next step: Develop a quality and rest plan
If you want to strategically use the daycare quality law for your kindergarten, now is the right time to define a quality focus and a concrete action plan.
When considering this, do not only examine personnel and training issues, but also the spatial conditions – especially the noise situation in group and multi-purpose rooms.
For planning soundproofing measures, you can rely on specialized partners such as FENNEXT soundproofing for daycare centers , who offer acoustic advice and suitable sound absorbers for daycare centers.
This is how you combine the funding from the daycare quality law with concrete improvements that children, parents and team experience every day.
Frequently asked questions about the daycare quality law
What is the daycare quality law in simple terms?
The Daycare Quality Act is a federal law with which the federal government provides financial support to the states from 2023 to 2026 so that they can improve the quality in daycare centers and childminding services and ensure the participation of all children.
It does not establish uniform concepts for all institutions, but creates a framework within which countries and providers can develop tailored measures on site.
How does the Daycare Quality Act differ from the Good Daycare Act?
The Good Daycare Act was the predecessor and combined quality measures more strongly with relief from parental contributions.
The daycare quality law continues the funding, but focuses resources more strongly on priority areas such as recruiting skilled workers, language support and strong management.
How much money is available in total?
For the years 2023 and 2024, the federal government is providing around four billion euros, which will flow into state programs for quality development.
In 2025 and 2026, a further four billion euros will be added, bringing the total volume of the daycare quality law to around eight billion euros.
Which areas of action will be particularly important from 2025 onwards?
From 2025 onwards, the daycare quality law focuses on seven priority areas of action, including staff-to-child ratios, recruitment of skilled workers, strong daycare management, healthy food and exercise, language education and the strengthening of childminding.
In addition, recruitment of skilled workers and language support are highlighted as mandatory investment areas for all countries.
Why does noise protection play a role in connection with the daycare quality law?
Noise in daycare centers can significantly impair children's concentration, language development, and the health of staff, which is why good room acoustics are a key part of educational quality.
Professional soundproofing solutions such as the acoustic panels and sound absorbers from FENNEXT Soundproofing for daycare centers help to reduce reverberation, improve speech intelligibility and thus practically support the quality objectives of the Daycare Quality Act.
