Vienna families will keep kindergarten places during parental leave or job loss

Parents and legal guardians in Vienna will no longer lose their children’s full-day place at a municipal kindergarten if they take parental leave or are temporarily unemployed, ORF reports. The change was announced by Vienna city councillor Bettina Emmerling of NEOS.

The new rule will apply from the start of the new kindergarten year in September. Children who received a full-day place when they were admitted or enrolled will be allowed to continue attending for the full day if their guardians’ employment status later changes for either of these reasons and they wish to retain the arrangement.

Previously, children usually had to be picked up earlier in such cases.

The measure will also apply retrospectively. If a child’s entitlement was previously changed because of parental leave or temporary job loss, the child may return to full-day attendance if the family registers a corresponding need.

“A full-day place remains a full-day place,” Emmerling said. The aim, she added, was to ensure that families do not lose their full-day place because of parental leave or temporary unemployment.

The policy is intended to allow children to attend kindergarten continuously, regardless of their parents’ employment situation, and to provide greater security for families.