Peer-Reviewed Articles in Scientific JournalsDas westdeutsche Kitasystem im Wandel: Einstellungen, Diskurse und Angebote zur Kleinkindbetreuung seit den 1970er-Jahren
Berth, Felix; Hank, Dominik; Kleinschrot, Leonie (2025)
Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft 28
DOI: 10.1007/s11618-025-01322-2
This paper explores the development of early childhood education and care in West-Germany in connection with media debate, individual attitude change, and academic discourse in the last five decades. The focus lies on the extra-familial care of children under three years of age since notably strong changes can be observed for this group. Methodologically, a historical content analysis of a renowned West German newspaper is combined with an analysis of survey data on attitude change and an analysis of the German children and youth reports. We show that scientific positioning tended to be among the drivers of change, while the media reacted primarily to policy issues. The attitude change shows a continuously increasing acceptance of non-maternal childcare in West Germany. The integration of the data points to a growing policy-culture gap until the turn of the millennium.