Life in Berlin
This page provides general information about the city to those who are about to join our community, and to those who are already part of it.
- Arriving in Germany [Some info is specific to FU and foreign residents]
www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/promovieren/drs/welcome/living-in-berlin/index.html
- Child Care
Child-care possibilities in Berlin are very good compared with other German cities. The so-called Kitas usually accept children aged 1 year, but there is a number of Kitas accepting children as young as 2 months. If you live in Prenzlauer Berg or Friedrichshain it is advisable to sign up before the birth of your child as waitlists can be long, in other regions you might get a place without waiting [update: due to high birthrates, new regulation about fee exemption for children aged 2 and more, and refugee crisis it is difficult to get a place anywhere now].
As soon as you have received an acceptance from the Kita of your choice, you need a voucher from your district authority, “Jugendamt” department. There are a number of requirements: residence in the district, both parents working (or main language in the family non-German, or a child older than 3). The monthly payments depend on your family income and are around 30-450 Euros per child (plus food expenditures of 25-30 Euros). The usual opening hours of Kitas are 7am-5pm (other closing times might be 3.50pm or 6pm), however the time your child can stay in depends on the specific voucher you qualify for, and might be up to 5 hours, 5-7 hours, 7-9 hours or more than 9 hours.
There is a small number of private Kitas with e.g. 24/7 opening times and different price systems, and also a number of mixed private/public systems. Moreover, there are parent's initiatives that operate similarly to the public system; however, usually you will have some additional duties like cooking once a month or cleaning. There are also in-home day-care providers that operate with the same rules as Kitas (you need the voucher, payments are the same, however the usual care times are shorter). These are normally run by women, who take care for up to 5 children at their home. The small number of children and in-home atmosphere might be an advantage, but be aware that if she (or her child) is sick, there is no replacement possibility.
A specific German feature is the so-called "settling in time" of 2 weeks at the beginning of your child's Kita experience. You are then expected to spend the time in the Kita with your child (starting with 2 hours a day, and slowly increasing to the time your kid spends in the Kita). This means that you need to have a Kita place 2 weeks before your contract starts, or you have to take 2 weeks of vacation. If you are an employee at the university or a guest, you might want to check the university Kitas: http://www.studentenwerk-berlin.de/kita/index.html.
- Housing
Renting is very common in Berlin. Rents in Berlin vary widely depending on the 'Kiez' (block) you want to live in. If you arrive in Berlin for the first time, you might start looking at Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Charlottenburg. It takes some time to find a nice and affordable place. It is generally easier to first get an apartment on a temporary lease as there are plenty on offer. In Berlin, there are lots of renting cooperatives that offer good value for money. If a realtor is involved, he might charge up to 2.39 monthly rents for his services. If you have the time, try to avoid realtors. You might have a look at www.immobilienscout24.de or www.studenten-wg.de/angebote_lesen.html?fuer=2-Zimmer-Wohnung&stadt=Berlin.
- Low-Budget Accommodation
Appartment Schulz, Aurora Hostel berlin (both <=30 Euro, Prenzlauer Berg)
- Language schools
If you want to improve your German, or start it from scratch, there are plenty of good Language schools for you. Here are a few:
www.goethe.de/ins/de/ort/ber/kur/enindex.htm
www.inlingua-berlin.de/sprachschule-und-sprachkurse-englisch-deutsch.html
- Job Market
Good resources on the academic junior job market are:
- Noah Smith (Stony Brook): How I survived the Econ Job Market
- John Cawley (Cornell): A Guide and Advice for Economists on the U.S. Junior Academic Job Market
- Stanford's Job Market Advice
- Johannes Pfeifer's Job Market Advice
- Society for Economics and Management at Humboldt University Berlin (WWG)
This association funded by 120 personal and 25 corporate members supports research activities in Berlin and at Humboldt. Further information is available at www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/wwg.
- Wages
A good page to learn about wages is http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/tvoed/bund/ for contracts at federal research institutes, like WZB, and http://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/tv-l/berlin/ for contracts at the universities. As a Postdoc you usually get a E13 or E14 offer. The exact wage is then determined by your experience. You stay one year in E13-1, two years in E13-2, and so on.
- VBL - Pension fund
The VBL (Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder) is a pension fund for public employees. However, you have to contribute for five years to become eligible for a pension. Otherwise, it should be possible to have some of your contributions refunded. As a scientific employee, however, you might opt out of this obligatory pension fund within the first two months of employment. See https://www.vbl.de/de?t=/documentManager/sfdoc.file.supply&s=zeXieeZhZPaQzL1v&fileID=1352815128573. In case you opt out of the obligatory contributions, you have to pay voluntary contributions to the VBL that will yield an immediate entitlement to a pension.
Anyway, the VBL offers the full menu of additional private pension plans (Riesterrente, Entgeltumwandlung), if you are interested.