Day care and multilingual day care centers
In Berlin, parents can find a wide range of childcare options as well as numerous multilingual and bilingual day care centers.
Day care centers and child day care are free for all children in Berlin. There is only a catering charge for lunch. In Berlin, children under the age of three also have access to day care outside the home if their parents can demonstrate a need for it.
The expansion of day care centers is an important issue for the Berlin State government. In March 2025 there were approx. 2,870 childcare facilities in Berlin with roughly 198,000 approved places for childcare. The number of places increased by one percent comparted to the previous year in Berlin. Berlin's day care facilities also keep more convenient hours; the city has substantially more full-day day care facilities than other regions of (West) Germany.
- roughly 171,000 children attended publicly funded child day care in Berlin
- 58 % of Berlin’s children were cared for all day
- 99,5 % of the children took part in the lunch service
(Source: Office of Statistics Berlin Brandenburg, as of March 1, 2025)
Over 90 percent of all day care offerings include the lunch hour. Parents who work outside the opening hours of day care and after-school facilities can apply for supplemental child care. In addition, Berlin has made the transition to all-day schools across the board. During school vacations, parents can apply for child care during core hours if necessary.
Multilingual day care centers
With its wide range of multilingual and bilingual day care centers, Berlin is doing justice to its multicultural population. Early language development is important for understanding and communication in society.
In a bilingual day care center, communication takes place in the mother tongue and another language. This gives children who speak a different language at home the opportunity to learn German at an early age. Conversely, children are given the opportunity to learn a language in addition to their mother tongue.
