TIROLER TAGESZEITUNG, leading article: “Better late than never”, by Anita Heubacher

Edition of Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Innsbruck (OTS) – Not least because of the pressure from industry and business, the ÖVP wants to speed up the expansion of childcare. Now that there is a shortage of workers, there is a fire on the roof and women’s labor is needed.

Now we have set ourselves the goal of increasing the pace,” said ÖVP Family Minister Susanne Raab yesterday. The evening before, ÖVP federal party leader and Chancellor Karl Nehammer had promised 4.5 billion euros for the expansion of childcare in the ORF summer talks. There should be 50,000 childcare places by 2030. The opposition immediately recognized this as a “marketing smear”, an early “choice of choice”. The ÖVP should not be surprised by this. For decades, the ÖVP was part of the government at many levels and was more of a brake than a driver for the expansion of childcare. Although the ÖVP women struggled honestly, in many cases they failed because of the conservative role model of many of their party friends. In 2016, the party is said to have sacrificed a pact of 1.2 billion euros to expand afternoon care for the rise of ÖVP superstar Sebastian Kurz. At least that’s what the chats that later became public suggest. Otherwise, a look at the arguments of many ÖVP figureheads is enough when it comes to the legal right to childcare. Since the ÖVP in Tyrol has moved recently, otherwise the party remains in defensive battles.
But now it should be so far. Well, better late than never, if the promised billions of euros actually flow this time. There is a lack of staff in the kindergartens and in the children’s groups. Working in childcare was and is, if you listen to those affected, a lucrative business, neither in monetary terms nor in terms of prestige. Elementary teachers are desperately needed, extra bonuses are paid as an incentive, and yet the first children’s groups have had to be closed due to a lack of staff. It is therefore questionable how one wants to use 50,000 additional childcare places.
In socio-political terms, conservative role models in Austria have become more entrenched than they have developed in the direction of equality. At work, women often had to make the experience that when in doubt, men would prefer to be promoted. That makes work less lucrative. Even in Vienna, where the range of childcare options is the best in Austria, the part-time rate has not fallen dramatically or is much lower than in other federal states. It remains to be seen whether the 50,000 places will drastically increase the flow of women into the labor market. Much more would have to change than just the care quota. Namely the conditions for women in the working world.

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