Poverty News Blog

from Spiegel

By Rose-Anne Clermont

Germany's children are poorer than they should be -- this is the conclusion that study after study has come to. Politicians in Berlin are beginning to address the problem, but the hurdles remain huge.

The outrage last week was immediate. How could a five-year-old girl starve to death? In Germany, no less? And how could it happen just one week after social workers had visited her home near the northern German city of Schwerin?

That, though, is exactly what happened, when the parents of little Lea-Sophie neglected their child for weeks until she eventually died last Wednesday. Since then, pundits and politicians have been demanding reforms in the way the state looks after children, with German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen calling for a better system to assist families in need.

"It starts with helping families find midwives to accompany the pregnancy," the Christian Democrat minister said in an interview with the magazine Super Illu. "Later, it is important that children are sent to kindergarten and that unemployed parents receive the necessary help in finding jobs."

Lea-Sophie didn't just die because her family was poor. There were clearly other factors at play in her parents ultimately failing to give her the care she needed. But last week's headline -- and von der Leyen's plea to help unemployed parents -- was just the latest in a series of stories drawing attention to the plight of children in Germany. It has become increasingly apparent that this wealthy country has a growing problem with child poverty.

No Future

According to statistics released by the German Society for the Protection of Children (DKSB), some 2.6 million children in Germany -- one in six -- live in poverty. Among children under 15, the percentage grows to one in four. Even more worrying, the number of children supported by Hartz IV -- the new, less-generous welfare package that took effect at the beginning of 2005 -- has doubled since 2005, while at the same time an economic upswing has led to a significant drop in unemployment. According to the report, child poverty in Germany has risen 16 times in the last four decades.

"Material poverty doesn't necessarily lead to such acts," says Kristina Lurse, who works for child protective services in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, of Lea-Sophie's long-term neglect by her parents. "But Hartz IV may contribute to people feeling that they have no future."

It used to be that German welfare recipients got extra allowances for children's clothes, school supplies, Christmas gifts and even cash to fix the washing machine if it broke down. Two and a half years ago, those handouts were slashed. Now, families get €208 ($307) per child per month and a few more euros once kids reach 14. The welfare reforms introduced by Hartz IV have been credited with lowering unemployment and boosting the economy. But according to Anne Thome, a counselor working for a state funded program in the Berlin district of Neukölln, it's far from enough for families.

Looking at the Bottom of the Earning Scale

"I have clients who take their kids out of kindergarten because they can't cover the cost of the meals," she says. "Forget about birthday presents or going to the zoo. These families can't afford to put a decent breakfast on the table."

It is a trend not uncommon to rich countries: The prosperous grow wealthier while the underclass grows and becomes relatively poorer. Often, it is children who suffer the brunt of the inequality. Germany has long tried to reverse the trend and spends over €100 billion per year on family programs, according to Viktor Steiner, an economist at Berlin's Free University. But still, the poor have not been able to catch up. "If poverty is measured in relative terms," says Steiner, "then a general increase in living standards may well lead to more poverty."

When it comes to child poverty, Germany is far from the worst in the industrialized world. Ranked 11th in an annual survey by the United Nations' child advocacy organ UNICEF, Germany still comes in well ahead of the US and the UK, both at the bottom of the 21 countries listed. Still, with the results of the 2005 welfare reform just now becoming apparent, the country is taking a closer look at the bottom of the earning scale.

One of the biggest debates facing Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition -- which pairs the conservatives with the Social Democrats -- has been that of introducing a minimum wage in the country. With many jobs lacking a legally anchored minimum wage, a broad class of working poor has emerged. Social worker Thome, for example, who only works part time, says that she actually earns less than many of the welfare recipients she counsels.

Selective Criteria

Demonstrating a desire to prevent kids from falling even further behind has become an easy way to score points for politicians in Berlin. In July, a program to up the amount of money the government provides needy families went into effect. The €200 million plan looks to give money to those families that would fall below the poverty line were they to have kids. Still, some 80 percent of applicants for the fund are rejected because of the extremely selective criteria associated with the program.

Family Minister von der Leyen has consistently been the most vocal advocate of helping German families raise children, and she calls the child poverty situation in Germany "shameful." She has worked to give German moms and dads the freedom to go to work, and has pledged the creation of 500,000 more nursery spots for toddlers. She is particularly interested in helping a growing number of single parents enter Germany's traditionally child-unfriendly workplace.

The benefits of such a move could be double: Studies have linked early childhood education to better performance at school later on. But even here, Germany has significant hurdles, after the nation's education system was blasted by the United Nations earlier this year for solidifying social inequality. The UN Special Rapporteur on education Vernor Muñoz Villalobos lampooned Germany's system of separating children into university track schooling or vocational training as early as primary school. Results from the PISA student assessment test conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that children of well-educated parents were over four times more likely to go to the university-track schools than children from families of skilled laborers.

Short End of the Stick

"If we didn't have money," says Christine Schmidt, a psychologist married to a human resources executive, "our daughter would end up at a special school." Her daughter, Pia, is 10 and borderline dyslexic, according to state test scores. Because Pia isn't severely dyslexic, though, her special training isn't covered by the state. Her parents shell out €325 per month so she can catch up to the rest of her peers. "If we were poor, she would never learn to read properly."

It's not only in education where poor kids get the short end of the stick. A study by the Robert Koch Institute showed that poorer kids get sick more often, due to bad nutrition. "Breakfast in most of these families is a slice of that cheap white bread you buy at Aldi that doesn't have anything in it to begin with," says Thome.

Heinz Hilgers, the president of German Society for the Protection of Children argues that it is nearly impossible to give children a healthy diet with the small amount of money provided by Hartz IV. The Robert Koch study also noted a higher degree of psychological and developmental problems amongst poorer kids.