Poor often remains poor - this is especially true for children in Germany, as a Europe-wide evaluation on behalf of the children's aid organization shows. According to this, children from households with a low level of education have a 61 percent risk of growing up in poverty.
The data come from the European statistical authority Eurostat. Germany is ranked seventh out of the 28 EU countries in the negative ranking. The average in the European Union is 51 percent.
On the other hand, children from higher educated families are better off than the European average: While in Germany 20 percent of children of parents with medium-level education are at risk of poverty, this value is just under 24 percent in the EU average. With a higher level of education for parents, the values are 6 percent in Germany and 8 percent in the EU average.
Status cemented in Germany
The evaluation once again makes it clear that the social status of the parents is also cementing that of the children - and the gap is widening. This is also shown time and again by educational comparisons, such as the Pisa study at the beginning of the month. This connection has even increased.
There is "cause for concern" that Germany is "so significantly above the EU average in terms of poverty risk", says Thomas Krüger, President of the German Children's Fund.
In everyday life, the problem is not only reflected in educational inequality. Children also use the food on the Tafel particularly often: 30 percent of customers are minors, "and thus disproportionately more than their share of the total population," said Krüger. Poverty also has a negative impact on children's health, for example.
"Lack of political will"
The aid agency "misses the political will in many places" to tackle the problems. It calls for priority to be given to families with a low level of education. This starts with higher wages and tax relief, goes to affordable housing and better opportunities in the education system. In addition, the children's aid organization pleads for child security.
The Grand Coalition recently launched the "Strong Family Law". Four million particularly disadvantaged children should benefit from offers such as free lunch at school, a higher child supplement or more tutoring. The bureaucracy hurdles, which have often led to the fact that the offers do not reach the children, should also decrease.
And in contrast to the Pisa figures on educational equality, at least the data on child poverty in Germany have improved slightly. The number of minors at risk of poverty decreased by six percent in 2018. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a total of 2.4 million children and adolescents were affected.