Holiday care in a crisis: Parents ask for help and solutions!

Holiday care in a crisis: Parents ask for help and solutions!

The long summer holidays are just around the corner and, like every year, they raise questions about child care for many parents. While students in Germany have 70 days of vacation per year, parents often only have 30 days of vacation available. This discrepancy causes real problems, especially for single parents and financially weaker families. Parent representatives therefore vehemently criticize the lack of reliable childcare options during the holidays. Aline Sommer-Noack, deputy chairwoman of the Federal Parents' Council, highlights the gaps in care and emphasizes how important adequate offers are to support parents.

In Berlin and Brandenburg, the summer holidays begin on July 22nd, 2025 and last until September 6th. The different holiday times in the federal states often cause additional tension when planning vacations for families. Many parents feel left alone when it comes to organizing holiday care, as a survey by Civey shows. Around half of parents say they have to use more than 50% of their annual leave to look after their children. Over a third of those surveyed even use over 75% of their vacation for this.

Care offers and challenges

The situation for primary school children is often described as sufficient, but for older children the situation is different. Children with disabilities in particular, especially at special schools, are often excluded from care. The German Social Association is therefore calling for investments in free, high-quality holiday and all-day care options close to home. Youth associations are also struggling with rising costs to maintain their offerings. The State Student Committee in Berlin is committed to closer cooperation between schools and youth leisure facilities in order to improve the childcare situation.

A positive initiative in Berlin is the “Berlin Summer Holiday Calendar”, which lists non-commercial and partly free offers. Reference is also made to the practical “Super Holiday Pass”, which offers numerous advantages for just 9 euros. The pass is valid for 100 days of vacation and gives access to over 500 prizes and raffles for Berlin children and young people up to 18 years old. In addition to free entry to leisure facilities such as the zoo and various museums, the pass also offers discounts on workshops and sports activities as well as a swimming pass for free entry to Berlin swimming pools.

Invitation to use

The Super Holiday Pass is personal and can be purchased at several points of sale. The coupons that are part of the pass offer great opportunities for excursions and leisure activities. These include, among other things, free ice skating, visits to the theater and exciting raffles for trips to climbing parks and other attractive leisure destinations. These offers help to keep children and young people busy and have a lot of fun during the holiday season.

The holiday season is challenging for many families, but with good planning and the right access to information, it can still be a wonderful time for the whole family. It's worth taking a closer look at the existing offers and taking advantage of the possibilities that the "Super Holiday Pass" offers.

Whatever the individual solution looks like, it is clear that more support and better offers are needed to close the big gaps in holiday care for parents and children. The commitment of initiatives and associations, such as parent representatives and youth associations, is essential.

For further information about childcare offers and the Super Holiday Pass, visit the website daily news and Youth culture service.