Children are our future and have a right to good living conditions, regardless of the social origin of their families. Child poverty is a structural problem that particularly affects single women and large families. Reconciling work and family life remains a social challenge. Children have their own rights and must be involved in democratic decision-making processes. A family-friendly city supports all generations and creates spaces where children can grow up safely and healthy.
Children, families and single parents
What Good Politics Means for Children, Families and Single Parents
What we want to do specifically in this area
We want all children to have equal opportunities. That's why we want to strengthen existing offers in the areas of leisure, education and health and make them more accessible. This requires low-threshold, non-bureaucratic and multilingual access.
We want children to be systematically involved in decisions that affect them and strengthen their democratic participation opportunities. We GRÜNE make children and families active co-creators of their city. Their ideas are to be incorporated into the planning of playgrounds, educational and leisure activities as well as urban projects. Children's conferences, digital participation formats and project-related involvement in committees should contribute to this. Cooperations with kindergartens, schools and KiEZen (Children's Parent Centres) ensure that proposals are implemented and have a visible effect. This is how we promote democratic participation from an early age and work together to make Wiesbaden child-friendly, lively and future-oriented.
We want all children in the daycare centers and all students in Wiesbaden to have daily access to healthy, balanced and delicious food. Healthy eating not only supports concentration and performance, but also promotes long-term health. That is why we are committed to high-quality, fresh food, which also remains affordable, so that all children and young people can benefit from it regardless of their families' wallets.
We are committed to effective district social work that reaches people where they need help. To this end, we want to evaluate existing offers and further develop them in line with the needs of the city administration. Well-equipped teams on the ground can provide support to families and children at an early stage – be it in conflicts, stressful life situations or crises in everyday life. District social work has a preventive effect: It detects hazardous situations, provides help and relieves parents before problems escalate. At the same time, it promotes cohesion in the district, networks schools, daycare centres and associations and creates low-threshold contact points for all families. With well-positioned district social work, we ensure that every family receives the support they need and that children can grow up in a safe environment.
We work with the state to ensure that children's day care centres are free of charge. Until then, we will continue the existing urban contribution scheme, which reduces contributions for families with large children and exempts low-income families from contributions.
With the KinderElternZentren (KiEZe) we strengthen families directly in their districts. For several years now, the KiEZe in Wiesbaden – for example in Klarenthal, Schelmengraben, Westend and Biebrich – have been offering advice, education and meetings. These serve as low-threshold contact points in the districts and offer flexible childcare, parenting cafés and educational advice from a single source – especially for single parents and families in challenging situations. The KiEZe network daycare centres, social services and neighbourhood initiatives and thus promote community and equal opportunities. We Greens supported this concept early on and are committed to further strengthening the existing KiEZe and expanding it to other districts. We also want to support KiEZe with sufficient financial resources so that they can support families and implement projects on their own initiative.
All families should be able to reach attractive playgrounds within walking distance. It is important to us that the number of barrier-free play equipment is expanded.
What we have already achieved
Since 2022, we have significantly expanded day care in Wiesbaden: In the daycare year 2024/25, 10,308 places were available – 227 more than in the previous year, with the number of children in Wiesbaden falling (2020/21 11,062, 2024/25 10,912). In the U3 area, the available space of 37.7% in 2020/21 to 41.1% in 2024/25 and in the elementary range of 90% in 2020/21 to 94,4%increase in 2024/2025. This will allow more families to combine work and childcare.
New facilities have been created, especially in new construction areas such as the Carinthian quarter. Thus, the supply in high-growth districts has been specifically improved.
Already 62 % Primary school children are now taking advantage of afternoon care. This is a major step towards the implementation of the legal right to full-time care.
The holiday care services for children and adolescents have been significantly expanded. Through the cooperation of the city administration with various partners, additional programs have been created that meet the needs of families. Projects such as the summer holiday games in the Cyperus Nature Park, for example, offered children the opportunity to spend their holidays in a natural environment. In addition, we Greens are committed to integrating holiday offers into the urban holiday programme to ensure a better overview and accessibility for all families, regardless of their income or living situation.
We have significantly strengthened school social work in Wiesbaden: Since 2025, there have been professional social workers on site at all primary and secondary schools, integrated comprehensive schools and vocational schools. They are the direct point of contact for pupils, parents and teachers – be it for school, social or personal challenges. The school social work provides prevention work, supports in conflicts and crises and promotes the social development of children and adolescents. The widespread presence in schools helps to increase equal opportunities, strengthen cohesion and provide children with a safe, supportive learning environment.
The newly created JIZ one-stop shop is much more than an information point. Here, young people receive advice on leisure opportunities, training paths, legal issues or personal problems. The JIZ is therefore a place where young people can easily find help when they need it.
Bolzplatz has been renovated and, for example, new facilities for calisthenics or skating have been created, such as at Kransand in Mainz-Kastel. We want to offer opportunities in the city to do sports and move around free of charge.
Children and adolescents from Wiesbaden can stay until their 18th birthday. Birthday use the public transport throughout Hesse and Mainz for only 15 € per month. Low-income families only pay €10. Despite the recent increase of the regular student ticket Hessen by the RMV to around € 32 per month, the city of Wiesbaden keeps the price of the WI15 ticket stable. In this way, families are specifically relieved in times of inflation and rising costs of living.
Since December 2023, children and adolescents up to the age of 18 have been able to swim free of charge in many of Wiesbaden's swimming pools during all Hessian school holidays.
40 km/h on the main roads and more 30 km/h zones on the secondary roads mean more safety, especially for children crossing the streets on foot or by bike. At the same time, noise pollution for everyone decreases, which improves the quality of life and protects our health.
Safe bike paths make it easier for children in particular to get to school independently and with less danger, as well as to ride independently on a daily basis. That's why, for example, we converted two streets close to the school, Lessingstraße and Mosbacher Straße, into bicycle roads. The example of the Rhine meadow cycle path also shows that infrastructure is planned specifically in such a way that even younger cyclists can use it safely in their free time or on their way to school.
We make Wiesbaden fit for families: With the playground development concept, we create modern, safe and inclusive places to play and meet for all generations. Numerous facilities such as Hohenloheplatz, Bolzplatz Bertramstraße, Schlosspark Biebrich, Quellbornstraße and Wallufer Platz have already been redesigned or are in the works. New offers such as the water playground at Luisenplatz also bring more joy and movement to our districts – for a Wiesbaden that offers children space to discover and families places to come together.
We design Wiesbaden's streets and squares in such a way that they are safe, green and worth living and invite you to stay longer. The redesigns of Sedanplatz and Court Street have been completed, followed by further projects such as Bülowplatz, Wallufer Platz, Yorckstraße, Schwalbacher Straße and the Alsatian Park. Green areas, more quality of stay and safe paths create places where families feel comfortable. With the extension of the pedestrian zone Wellritzstraße and the upgrading of many district squares, we are making the city a place where children can move and play freely and safely close to their place of residence, even in the urban area.
Family-friendliness is also evident in leisure time and culture. The pheasantry was expanded to Arche Park, the cultural park expanded and designed with toilets and water dispensers family-friendly. The Play Fountain at Luisenplatz, a new water playground in the Reisinger facilities, which is to go into operation in 2025, and events such as Wiesbaden on Ice, the children's shooting star market or the playmobile, which is used in various places, offer joy and encounter for young and old.
