About every fourth child in Hesse is at risk of poverty.
This is the result of a recently published study by the Bertelsmann Foundation.
This puts Hesse below the national average
Hesse - The Bertelsmann Foundation published shocking figures on Thursday (January 26): 24.4 percent of children and young people under the age of 18 were at risk of poverty in Hesse in 2021.
In absolute numbers, that is 260,777 children and young people at risk of poverty.
On average, every fifth child in Germany is at risk of poverty, in Hesse even every fourth child.
Petra Heimer, socio-political spokeswoman for DIE LINKE, says in her press release: "13th place out of 16 federal states: Hardly any federal state has as many children and young people affected by poverty as Hesse."
Children of single parents are particularly at risk.
For them, the risk of poverty rate was 45.5 percent.
At 36 percent, children from families with three or more children are affected more often than children in small families.
There is always a risk of poverty when children and young people live in a household where the income is less than 60 percent of the median income of all households in Germany.
This primarily affects families who live in cities such as Darmstadt, Offenbach, Wiesbaden or Kassel.
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A mother holds her son's hand.
© picture alliance / dpa/Illustration
More and more children and young people are threatened by poverty in Hesse
Children in households that live on basic security are also at risk of poverty.
Using data from the Federal Employment Agency, the authors of the study found that in June 2022, 14 percent of children would grow up with basic security.
This puts Hesse 0.1 percentage points above the national average of 13.9 percent.
According to a report by the
Hessenschau
, the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband demands that the basic security be increased immediately by 200 euros per month.
The study by the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that 28 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 were at risk of poverty in 2021.
They are often in training or studying and earn little or no money.
"The right to social security, the right to social participation, to a healthy and non-discriminatory upbringing is not a reality for a quarter of children and young people in Hesse," emphasizes Petra Heimer and called on the Hessian state government to focus on fighting poverty place.
(mm/dpa)
A single mother from the Limburg-Weilburg district talks about her everyday life with too little money.
A problem that is everywhere in Hesse.
List of rubrics: © picture alliance / dpa/Illustration