Study: Families with Turkish-origin surnames face discrimination at daycare centers in Germany

The study, launched in March 2021 by the ifo Institute, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) and the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), found that parents with Turkish-origin surnames face discrimination when searching for a daycare place for their children.

Within the scope of the study, emails were sent to more than 22,000 daycare centers that had places for children under the age of three. In the emails, German and Turkish surnames were used randomly for the parents, and only one email was sent to each daycare center. About 18,700 of the emails sent were successfully delivered, and a total of 12,547 applications received a response.

According to the results, about 71 percent of daycare applications made with German surnames received a response, while 66 percent of applications made with Turkish-origin surnames were answered. The likelihood of parents with Turkish-origin surnames being offered a concrete daycare place came out about 20 percent lower than for those with German surnames. Parents with Turkish-origin names received fewer responses than the other group even when they stated their level of education.

Frauke Peter, an expert at DZHW, said: "Daycare is the first building block on the path to education. Unequal opportunities in access to daycare can continue to have an effect all the way to university."