Press release No. 441 of 14 November 2018
WIESBADEN/BERLIN – There are fewer and fewer children in Germany. Their current and future life situation is still being strongly influenced by their social background. Children have better chances of high educational attainment it their parents are highly educated. Also, children from homes with a lower socio-economic status have worse chances of growing up healthily. The subjective well-being of children and young people at school varies greatly depending on the type of school. The proportion of children at risk of poverty remains stagnant despite the good economic situation. The risk of poverty is highest for children and young people living in lone-parent households.
This is the situation depicted by the Data Report 2018, a social report for the Federal Republic of Germany released in Berlin today. Official statistics experts and social researchers have compiled facts and figures on major areas of life, for instance on children. The press conference's thematic focus was chosen to mark the International Day of Children's Rights on 20 November. The Data Report is published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb in cooperation with the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
Number of children in Germany down by 14% in the last 20 years
Based on microcensus results, 13.4 million people aged under 18 years were living in private households in Germany in 2017. This amounted to 16% of the total population. The number of children has decreased by 14% in the whole of Germany in the last 20 years. In 1997, their number stood at 15.7 million, representing 19% of the total population.
The wealthier and more highly educated the parents, the healthier the children
The health situation of children has improved in the last years. Their social background, however, has a strong influence on their health. Children from homes with a lower socio-economic status have worse chances of growing up healthily. This starts long before birth. Roughly 30% of the mothers with a low socio-economic status smoke during pregnancy; among mothers with a high socio-economic status, the figure is just 2%. The health inequalities continue throughout the life course. Children and young people with a low socio-economic status more often have psychological or behavioural problems. They exercise less regularly, have a less healthy diet and are more likely to be overweight.
Children's educational chances in Germany depend strongly on the educational level of their parents
The family background still is a major factor in the choice of school in Germany. In 2017, the parents of a vast majority of grammar school pupils (65%) had a higher education entrance qualification. In contrast, only few grammar school pupils lived with parents who had a secondary general school certificate (7%) or no general school certificate at all (2%). The reverse was true of children attending secondary general school: only 16% of their parents had a higher education entrance qualification. More than half of the secondary general school pupils lived with parents who had a secondary general school certificate (42%) or no general school certificate at all (14%).
Secondary general school pupils feel more burdened by school
The burden placed on pupils depends strongly on the type of school. Roughly half of the pupils indicated that they were exhausted after school most of the time. This applied in particular to pupils at grammar school and at secondary general school. Roughly a third of the young people at both types of school complained that school left them with hardly any time to meet friends. Secondary general school pupils in particular perceived school as a burden. 43% of them said that they didn't really enjoy much of school. 24% considered the demands of school to be a heavy burden. At other types of school, far fewer children and young people agreed with these two statements.
Rising child poverty impairs cultural, social and political participation
In 2017, 14.4% of the children aged under six years were at risk of poverty. This proportion stood at 14.5% for children aged six to eleven years. Children and young people aged 12 to 17 years had an above-average risk of poverty (16.7%). On average, 15.2% of all people aged under 18 years were at risk of poverty. Currently, 36% of all children in Germany have a migrant background. This means that the child or at least one parent did not get German citizenship by birth. Children with a migrant background (33.3%) have a higher risk of poverty than children without a migrant background (12.7%).
Child poverty is more than just material poverty and therefore cannot be solved by simply providing material benefits. Material deprivation can lead to social stigmatisation. One important aspect is that cultural, social and also political participation is particularly difficult for children and young people living in poverty or at risk of poverty. Poverty affects all areas of life and has a strong impact on educational and life opportunities.
The Data Report is available for free download on the websites of the Federal Statistical Office, the Berlin Social Science Center (www.wzb.eu/datenreport) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (www.bpb.de/datenreport2018). The book edition may be obtained from the Federal Agency for Civic Education (www.bpb.de/nachschlagen) against payment of 4.50 euros.
Detailed documents relating to the press conference are available here (only in german).
