Abstract:
This paper is about the perceived level of fair fees for childcare usage among residents of a German city. The analysis is based on original data from a vignette study of Konstanz residents, administered in the fall of 2014. The paper studies, which level of fees is perceived as fair and which factors influence these fairness perceptions – either directly or moderated by respondent characteristics. We find that residents in Konstanz on average consider a fee of 191 Euro to be fair, which is slightly below the average fee level that citizens had to pay at the time of the survey. The most important factors influencing the level of (perceived) fair fees are related to resourcefulness: High-income citizens are expected to pay more. Single parents and those without support from grandparents are allowed to contribute less. Religious background, employment status as well as having local roots do not affect the levels of perceived fair fees. The acceptance of the model of income-dependent fees indicates strong feedback effects from policies and institutions at the national level as the local fee level deviates from this most common model in Germany by raising fees independent of income.