Overview

• Nationally, about 72% of pedagogical staff per Kita hold a relevant qualification, with eastern states averaging roughly 87% and western states about 69%.
• Thuringia posts the highest level at around 94.3%, while Bavaria is lowest at 54.5% and has only 3.6% of Kitas meeting the high‑qualification threshold.
• From 2023 to 2024, the share of Kitas with a high qualified‑staff ratio fell in ten states, with the steepest declines in Bremen, Saarland and Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern; five states rose slightly, led by Saxony.
• Local disparities are stark, ranging from 94% of Kitas with high qualified‑staff shares in the Thuringian district of Sömmerda to 2.3% in the Bavarian district of Augsburg.
• As of March 1, 2024, only 30.7% of Kita teams nationwide met the ‘high’ threshold of at least 82.5% qualified pedagogical staff, a decline from 2017 that the study links to municipal cost pressure and broadened hiring rules; the foundation urges a uniform Fachkraft definition and stable federal‑state co‑financing.