Press release No. 340 of 11 August 2022
- The number of cases of child endangerment reported by the youth welfare offices was down by 1% in the second Covid year, but cases in need of help increased by just under 2%
- Nearly one in two endangered children were under 8 years old
- Several types of neglect or violence were recorded for one in five cases
Most of the information came from the police and the justice system, the most reliable information came from the children themselves
WIESBADEN – Following the record level of child endangerment in 2020, the first Covid year, the number of cases of acute danger to a child's best interests declined slightly in the second year of the pandemic. In 2021, the youth welfare offices in Germany reported more than 59,900 cases where the best interests of a child or young person were endangered because of neglect or psychological, physical or sexual violence. This was a decline of about 600 cases, or 1%, compared with a year earlier. The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) also reports an increase of just under 2% (+1,100 cases) in the number of cases examined by the authorities which were not classified as child endangerment but where a need for help was identified. In 2021, the youth welfare offices reported nearly 67,700 cases in need of help. As a result, child endangerment reached its second highest level since the beginning of the statistics in 2012, and the number of cases in need of help hit a new high in the second Covid year.
