Social issues in Germany
Encyclopedia
The German
social market economy
(soziale Marktwirtschaft) was the economic policy ever since the Federal Republic of West Germany was founded in 1948. This policy brought about the economic miracle
that rebuilt Germany from scratch after World War II to one of the largest economies in the World. However, Germany still continues to struggle with a number of social issues.
. Unemployment rates vary by region, gender, educational attainment and ethnic group.
A growing number of Germans are poor and depend on welfare. In 2007 one in 6 children depended on welfare. That's up from only one in 75 in 1965. Poverty rates seem to vary in different states as in Bavaria only 3.9% suffer from poverty while in Berlin 15.2% of the inhabitants are poor. Families that are headed by a single parent and working class families with multiple children are most likely to be poor.
-based soup kitchen
"Die Arche", claimed that a number of German children go hungry each day. He blamed the lack of jobs, low welfare payments, and parents who were drug-addicted or mentally ill. Siggelkow has been criticized by a number of people who said there was no hunger in Germany. SPD
politician and board member of the German central bank
Thilo Sarrazin
said it was possible to live on welfare without going hungry if one did not buy fast food, but was able to cook from scratch. He was criticized by The Left
politician Heidi Knake-Werner, who said it was not right that "well-off people told poor people how to shop".
-Bismarck, Köln
-Kalk or the Ihme-Zentum in Hannover. Those neighbourhoods have a high drop-out rate from secondary school and children growing up in a neighbourhood like this have only 1/7th the probability of going to college compared to a person growing up in another neighbourhood. Abuse of alcohol and drugs is common. Many people living in those neighborhoods are what is called a-people. They are poor ("arm"), out-of-work ("arbeitslos") and immigrants ("Ausländer").
Often those neighbourhoods were founded out of best intentions. Many districts that later became problem neighbourhoods were founded in the 1960s and 1970s when the State wanted to provide better housing for poorer persons. Big tenement buildings were built. The first tenants mostly were two-parent-families, with at least one parent working and many were happy with their neighbourhoods. But when the unemployment rate started climbing more and more people were losing their jobs. Also, families who could afford it started moving into better districts and only those who could not afford to move stayed in districts such as Hamburg
-Mümmelmannsberg.
A growing number of Germans are functionally illiterate, functionally innumerate, or both. According to a study done by the University of Bremen
in cooperation with the "Bundesverband Alphabetisierung e.V.", ten percent of youngsters living in Germany are illiterate and one quarter was able to understand only basic level texts. 21.6 percent of all youngsters were only able to do mathematics at or below fourth-grade-level. The percentage of illiterate and innumerate youngsters varies among ethnic groups and parents' socioeconomic status.
, however not all of them were highschool dropouts, as many of them were special needs students, who received special school leaving certificates. Only 3.3 percent dropped out of school without earning any kind of diploma.
has been sparked in 2006 when teachers of the Rütli School
wrote a letter to the senate office demanding the school to be closed down. The letter stated:
in class. Students are allowed to wear headscarves. All German States have banned crosses from the classroom. However the cross is allowed in class if none of the students objects to it, but must be removed if any student objects.
Generally the use of all religious symbols by teachers is prohibited in state schools (however this is not true for faith schools). This is legitimate by combining the German states' privilege of educational laws with the principle of separation of church and state, both provided for in the German federal constitution. According to this legal view, teachers in their vocational function within a state administered educational system are obliged to maintain and publicly exhibit religious neutrality when on duty. As this status of employment does not hold for pupils, whose constitutional right to religious freedom thus remains unencumbered by these provisions, this ban cannot legally be extended to them as it is in France
.
Students visiting a Gymnasium are required to attend religious education or ethics classes. According to the German constituition church and state are separated in Germany. Thus while classes in religion or ethics are compulsory in a Gymnasium, the student may choose which specific religion, if any, is studied.
in 1990 have begun to narrow. While the standard of living is still higher in the western half of the country, and unemployment is considerably higher in the East, easterners now share a reasonably high standard of living. Still, even as economic issues are abating between the two formerly separate parts of the country, societal and cultural divisions persist. Stereotypes and labels such as "Jammer-Ossi" (whining easterner), "Besser-Wessi" (arrogant know-it-all westerner), and western resentment towards the costs of unification point to continued prejudices.
engaged in a string of assassinations and kidnappings against political and business figures. Germany has also continued to struggle with far-right violence or neo-nazis which are presently on a rise, in line with the younger generation of Germans growing older. There is some debate as to whether indeed the hate crime
is rising, or whether simply more arrests have been made due to increased law-enforcement efforts. The number of officially recognized violent hate crimes has risen from 759 (2003) to 776 (2005). Some have suggested that the increase in hate crime is related to the proliferation of right-wing parties, such as the NPD (National Democratic Party) in local elections.
(children, kitchen, church). Throughout the twentieth century, however, women have gradually won victories in their quest for equal rights. Despite significant gains, discrimination remains in united Germany. Women are noticeably absent in the top tiers of German businesses. They only hold 9.2% of jobs in Germany's upper and middle management positions. Until 2001 women were barred from serving in combat units in the Bundeswehr
, being restricted to the medical service and the administration. The first woman to become chancellor is Angela Merkel
, who was elected in 2005.
s in the world. In 2007 its national fertility rate was 1.45 children per woman, up slightly from the 2002 rate (1.31), but still well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. (By contrast, the United States
had a fertility rate of 2.09 in 2006). At the same time, Germans are living longer, with a life expectancy of 75.6 years for men and 81.3 for women. This demographic shift is already straining the country's social welfare structures and will produce further economic and social problems in the future.
The Mikrozensus done in 2008 revealed that the number of children a German women aged 40 to 75 had, was closely linked to her educational achievement.
In western Germany the most educated women were the most likely to be childless. 26% of those groups stated they were childless, while only 16% of those having an intermediate education, and 11% of those having compulsory education stated the same.
In Eastern Germany however, only 9% of the most educated women of that age group and only 7% of those who had a intermediary education were childless, while 12% of those having only compulsory education were childless. The reason for that east-western difference is the fact that the GDR had an "educated mother scheme" and actively tried to encourage first births among the more educated.
The more educated a western German mother aged 40 to 75 is, the less likely she is to have a big family.
The same is true for mothers living in Eastern Germany.
and in 1990 15% of all births were to unmarried women. There has been a sharp increase in the out-of-wedlock-rate since that time and in 2006 one in three children was born out-of-wedlock. The number of children born out-of-wedlock varies by region, ethnic group (Muslims for example are very unlikely to have children out of wedlock) and social class. Children born out-of-wedlock face a number of problems, including poverty. In 2008 43% of families headed by a single women had to rely on welfare as the main source of household income.
methods as well as abstinence
. While teenage pregnancy
rates in Germany are lower than they are in countries such as the UK or the USA, they have been of increasing interest for the media, which have published articles on "children having children". A study revealed that teenage pregnancy was more common among young girls who had been disadvantaged in childhood, did poorly in school, and had poor expectations on the job market. It was also revealed that pregnant teenagers were more likely to come from a "broken home" than teenagers who did not fall pregnant. There also seems to be a "family tradition" of teenage parenthood as 34% of the mothers of pregnant teenagers were 20 or younger when they had their first child. While only 4% of pregnant teens planned their pregnancy, 34% did not use contraception. 9.8% of all pregnant teens and 13.4% of all pregnant 17-year-olds already had a child before they became pregnant again.
A pregnant German teen has two options. She can carry the pregnancy to term or choose an abortion
. 60% of pregnant teens choose to have an abortion. The higher a pregnant teen's educational level is, the higher her partner's educational level is, and the higher her parents' socioeconomic class is, the greater is her likelihood to opt for an abortion. Pregnant Catholic
or Protestant teens are just as likely as atheist teens to have an abortion when they experienced unwanted pregnancy. Muslim
teens are more likely to carry the pregnancy to term.
Several studies revealed that a high percentage of teenaged parents were special-needs kids. Many of those special-needs teenagers find themselves unable to care for their offspring's emotional needs. A teenaged parent may ask a Familienhelfer (family helper) to help her out. Family helpers are social workers who will help the young parents run the household, go shopping for them, or help them with the kids. A young parent may also choose to move to a Mutter-Kind-Heim ("Mother-Child-Home"). A Mutter-Kind-Heim is a place were troubled parents live and professionals care for the young parent and her offspring.
continues to be a concern of both economic and social importance. Germany has always been and still is a society with a considerable rate of immigration. Together with the enactment of a new set of immigration laws, integration of migrants has become a main focus of official federal policy. By virtue of language courses and courses on culture, politics, and society, which are largely state-financed, integration
of new migrants is regulated country-wide; in some specified cases, participation in such courses is compulsory. Furthermore, the new law provides for fewer formalities and more options for highly skilled third-country nationals to enter the country for working there; citizens of European Union
member states generally enjoy the right to abode and work in Germany, thus, their stay is not regulated. At the same time, with a view to security threats by international terrorism
, expulsion of foreign hate-mongers and suspected terrorists in Germany has been made easier. As a result of enhanced security measures, immigrants (especially those from Muslim
and Africa
n countries) may face police
inquiries (such as requests for identification
), which some voices regard as undue.
New immigrants face prejudices and problems integrating with the native population and often segment into separate communities. Higher rates of delinquency and more general integration problems persist amongst some migrant groups. Notwithstanding police operations focusing on this matter, migrants may still be subject to racist assaults mainly in rural areas or small towns in former East Germany. Such problems are not unique to Germany and the incidence of the more severe of these problems are relatively rare in perspective. Some German states (which are responsible for education affairs) have banned Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves
in class, generally by prohibiting the use of all religious symbols by teachers; this issue is being intensively discussed in the general public. Unlike France
, German states have not extended this ban to pupils. German political backlash due to integration with Europe is resulting in new laws seeking to equalize the pay of eastern European workers (such as those from Poland
and the Czech Republic
) in an effort to curb the advantages to their hire. Alleged and real competition of "cheap" labour force mainly from Eastern Europe is an issue which right and far-right political groups - in some areas with some success - try to use to promote nationalist approaches in immigration policy. However, during the last decades, no far-right movement has been able to gain enough support to win seats in federal elections or to play any important role in politics on the federal level.
A study released by the OECD revealed that immigrants in Germany perform much worse at school than their counterparts elsewhere. There were great differences in scholastic performance between different groups of immigrants (see also: Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
).
and lesbian
s, though less so than other countries such as the Netherlands
. Gay partnerships which are just short of marriage have been permitted since 2001. Gays and lesbians can legally adopt their partner's biological children (so called stepchild adoption). Legally partnered gays are exempted from Germany's compulsory conscription
(as are married heterosexuals). Legally partnered gays are not required to testify against each other in court. Gay couples do not enjoy the tax benefits that heterosexual couples do. Politically, this has caused a "clash of cultures", with the states of Bavaria
, Saxony
and Thuringia
suing against the introduction of "life partnerships" in 2001. They argued the law was violating a clause of the Basic Law
stating "marriage and family" were under the state's "special protection". In 2002, the Federal Court of Justice of Germany
ruled that this protection did not mean the legislature could not grant other arrangements similar, or even the same, rights. Nevertheless, Bavaria has declared its intent to sue against the recently introduced stepchild adoption. The Christian Social Union
and Christian Democratic Union of Germany political parties have been actively working to restrict extensions in legal rights granted to homosexuals. At the same time the opposition leader of the Free Democratic Party
, Guido Westerwelle
, has called for an increase in rights (in particular economic rights) and has stated that the government has not gone far enough (in spite of having voted against the introduction of life partnerships in parliament in 2001). In general, Germany is one of the more legally and socially tolerant countries towards homosexuals. Despite this general tolerance, debate on the status of homosexuals continues.
chairman Kurt Beck
. In his 2004 article Walter Wüllenweber addressed social issues such as child poverty, unemployment and out of wedlock births. However, unlike many scholars, he does not perceive lack of economic opportunity, but rather lack of education and the failure of underclass persons to embrace middle class values to be the roots of this social problem. In 2006 Beck stated that "There are far too many people in Germany who see no more hope of improving their situation" and "Many people call it an underclass problem."
A number of journalists have picked up that word and published articles about what they called underclass-women and described them as having "no job, no education, no chance, no husband, no love". They were perceived as unfit mothers who could not provide for their large families. Underclass males were perceived as violent and absent fathers. This portrayal of poor persons has been criticized by a number of scientists such as Fabian Kessel, who said that the media were wrong and there was no underclass. The underclass is a construct of the mass media according to Kessl
In a 2009 interview SPD
politician and board member of the German central bank Thilo Sarrazin
talked about ethnic minorities in Germany. According to Sarrazin most people from certain ethnic groups were of low IQ, were neither willing nor able to contribute to society, did not embrace German values, hated German society, and kept having children in order to increase their welfare benefits. Sarrazin has been criticized by politicians Vural Öger
(who accused him of blaming the victim) and Gerhard Schick
(who has called his opinion "nasty"). Safter Çınar, spokesman for the Turkish Association in Berlin, said Sarrazin's remarks were insulting and untrue.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
social market economy
Social market economy
The social market economy is the main economic model used in West Germany after World War II. It is based on the economic philosophy of Ordoliberalism from the Freiburg School...
(soziale Marktwirtschaft) was the economic policy ever since the Federal Republic of West Germany was founded in 1948. This policy brought about the economic miracle
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...
that rebuilt Germany from scratch after World War II to one of the largest economies in the World. However, Germany still continues to struggle with a number of social issues.
Economic issues
Germans continue to be concerned about a relatively high level of unemploymentUnemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
. Unemployment rates vary by region, gender, educational attainment and ethnic group.
A growing number of Germans are poor and depend on welfare. In 2007 one in 6 children depended on welfare. That's up from only one in 75 in 1965. Poverty rates seem to vary in different states as in Bavaria only 3.9% suffer from poverty while in Berlin 15.2% of the inhabitants are poor. Families that are headed by a single parent and working class families with multiple children are most likely to be poor.
Hunger
There is a discussion going on about hunger in Germany. Reverend Bernd Siggelkow, founder of the BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-based soup kitchen
Soup kitchen
A soup kitchen, a bread line, or a meal center is a place where food is offered to the hungry for free or at a reasonably low price. Frequently located in lower-income neighborhoods, they are often staffed by volunteer organizations, such as church groups or community groups...
"Die Arche", claimed that a number of German children go hungry each day. He blamed the lack of jobs, low welfare payments, and parents who were drug-addicted or mentally ill. Siggelkow has been criticized by a number of people who said there was no hunger in Germany. SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
politician and board member of the German central bank
Deutsche Bundesbank
The Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks . Due to its strength and former size, the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB. Both the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Central Bank are...
Thilo Sarrazin
Thilo Sarrazin
Thilo Sarrazin is a German politician and former member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank...
said it was possible to live on welfare without going hungry if one did not buy fast food, but was able to cook from scratch. He was criticized by The Left
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
politician Heidi Knake-Werner, who said it was not right that "well-off people told poor people how to shop".
Problem Neighborhoods
So called problem neighbourhoods ("Problemviertel") exist in Germany. Examples are GelsenkirchenGelsenkirchen
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....
-Bismarck, Köln
KOLN
KOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials...
-Kalk or the Ihme-Zentum in Hannover. Those neighbourhoods have a high drop-out rate from secondary school and children growing up in a neighbourhood like this have only 1/7th the probability of going to college compared to a person growing up in another neighbourhood. Abuse of alcohol and drugs is common. Many people living in those neighborhoods are what is called a-people. They are poor ("arm"), out-of-work ("arbeitslos") and immigrants ("Ausländer").
Often those neighbourhoods were founded out of best intentions. Many districts that later became problem neighbourhoods were founded in the 1960s and 1970s when the State wanted to provide better housing for poorer persons. Big tenement buildings were built. The first tenants mostly were two-parent-families, with at least one parent working and many were happy with their neighbourhoods. But when the unemployment rate started climbing more and more people were losing their jobs. Also, families who could afford it started moving into better districts and only those who could not afford to move stayed in districts such as Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-Mümmelmannsberg.
Illiteracy and Innumeracy
University of Bremen
The University of Bremen is a university of approximately 23,500 people from 126 countries that are studying, teaching, researching, and working in Bremen, Germany...
in cooperation with the "Bundesverband Alphabetisierung e.V.", ten percent of youngsters living in Germany are illiterate and one quarter was able to understand only basic level texts. 21.6 percent of all youngsters were only able to do mathematics at or below fourth-grade-level. The percentage of illiterate and innumerate youngsters varies among ethnic groups and parents' socioeconomic status.
High School dropout rates
A 2008 statistic from Nordrhein-Westfalen shows that 6.4 percent of all students did not earn even the HauptschulabschlussHauptschulabschluss
The Hauptschulabschluss is a school leaving certificate in Germany. The Hauptschulabschluss may be awarded to students who graduate from a Hauptschule or Abendhauptschule...
, however not all of them were highschool dropouts, as many of them were special needs students, who received special school leaving certificates. Only 3.3 percent dropped out of school without earning any kind of diploma.
School Violence
A debate about school violenceSchool violence
School violence is widely held to have become a serious problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved...
has been sparked in 2006 when teachers of the Rütli School
Rütli School
The Rütli School was a Hauptschule in Neukölln, one of Berlin's poorest neighbourhoods. The school made news in 2006 when teachers wrote a letter to the senate office demanding the school be closed down, as they were no longer able to deal with violent youngsters.The letter was made public and...
wrote a letter to the senate office demanding the school to be closed down. The letter stated:
- We must realize that the mood in some classes currently is marked by aggressiveness, disrespect, and ignorance towards adults … The tendency toward violence against property is growing … In most of the families of our students, they are the only ones getting up in the morning. For them, school is a stage and battleground for attention. The worst culprits become role models.
Religion In Education
Some German states have banned Muslim teachers from wearing headscarvesHeadscarf
Headscarves or head scarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as for warmth, for sanitation, for fashion or social distinction; with religious significance, to hide baldness, out of modesty, or other...
in class. Students are allowed to wear headscarves. All German States have banned crosses from the classroom. However the cross is allowed in class if none of the students objects to it, but must be removed if any student objects.
Generally the use of all religious symbols by teachers is prohibited in state schools (however this is not true for faith schools). This is legitimate by combining the German states' privilege of educational laws with the principle of separation of church and state, both provided for in the German federal constitution. According to this legal view, teachers in their vocational function within a state administered educational system are obliged to maintain and publicly exhibit religious neutrality when on duty. As this status of employment does not hold for pupils, whose constitutional right to religious freedom thus remains unencumbered by these provisions, this ban cannot legally be extended to them as it is in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Students visiting a Gymnasium are required to attend religious education or ethics classes. According to the German constituition church and state are separated in Germany. Thus while classes in religion or ethics are compulsory in a Gymnasium, the student may choose which specific religion, if any, is studied.
Reunification
Issues created by reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990 have begun to narrow. While the standard of living is still higher in the western half of the country, and unemployment is considerably higher in the East, easterners now share a reasonably high standard of living. Still, even as economic issues are abating between the two formerly separate parts of the country, societal and cultural divisions persist. Stereotypes and labels such as "Jammer-Ossi" (whining easterner), "Besser-Wessi" (arrogant know-it-all westerner), and western resentment towards the costs of unification point to continued prejudices.
Political Extremism
Since World War II, Germany has experienced intermittent turmoil from various groups. In the 1970s radical leftist terrorist organisations like the Red Army FactionRed Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
engaged in a string of assassinations and kidnappings against political and business figures. Germany has also continued to struggle with far-right violence or neo-nazis which are presently on a rise, in line with the younger generation of Germans growing older. There is some debate as to whether indeed the hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
is rising, or whether simply more arrests have been made due to increased law-enforcement efforts. The number of officially recognized violent hate crimes has risen from 759 (2003) to 776 (2005). Some have suggested that the increase in hate crime is related to the proliferation of right-wing parties, such as the NPD (National Democratic Party) in local elections.
Gender roles and demographics
The Role Of Women
For centuries, a woman's role in German society was summed up by the three words: Kinder, Küche, KircheKinder, Küche, Kirche
Kinder, Küche, Kirche , or the 3 K’s, is a German slogan translated as “children, kitchen, church”. At the present time it has a derogative connotation describing an antiquated female role model...
(children, kitchen, church). Throughout the twentieth century, however, women have gradually won victories in their quest for equal rights. Despite significant gains, discrimination remains in united Germany. Women are noticeably absent in the top tiers of German businesses. They only hold 9.2% of jobs in Germany's upper and middle management positions. Until 2001 women were barred from serving in combat units in the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
, being restricted to the medical service and the administration. The first woman to become chancellor is Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
, who was elected in 2005.
A Low Birth Rate and an Aging Population
Germany has one of the lowest birth rateBirth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
s in the world. In 2007 its national fertility rate was 1.45 children per woman, up slightly from the 2002 rate (1.31), but still well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. (By contrast, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
had a fertility rate of 2.09 in 2006). At the same time, Germans are living longer, with a life expectancy of 75.6 years for men and 81.3 for women. This demographic shift is already straining the country's social welfare structures and will produce further economic and social problems in the future.
The Mikrozensus done in 2008 revealed that the number of children a German women aged 40 to 75 had, was closely linked to her educational achievement.
In western Germany the most educated women were the most likely to be childless. 26% of those groups stated they were childless, while only 16% of those having an intermediate education, and 11% of those having compulsory education stated the same.
In Eastern Germany however, only 9% of the most educated women of that age group and only 7% of those who had a intermediary education were childless, while 12% of those having only compulsory education were childless. The reason for that east-western difference is the fact that the GDR had an "educated mother scheme" and actively tried to encourage first births among the more educated.
The more educated a western German mother aged 40 to 75 is, the less likely she is to have a big family.
| Percent of western German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 and more children by educational attainment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| number of children | compulsory education | intermediary education | highest education | |
| one child | 22 | 30 | 31 | |
| two children | 39 | 48 | 48 | |
| three or more children | 39 | 22 | 21 | |
The same is true for mothers living in Eastern Germany.
| Percent of Eastern German mothers having 1, 2 and 3 and more children by educational attainment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| number of children | compulsory education | intermediary education | highest education | |
| one child | 23 | 33 | 33 | |
| two children | 37 | 46 | 51 | |
| three or more children | 40 | 21 | 16 | |
Out-of-wedlock-births
In 1950 8% of all children born in Germany were born out of wedlockLegitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
and in 1990 15% of all births were to unmarried women. There has been a sharp increase in the out-of-wedlock-rate since that time and in 2006 one in three children was born out-of-wedlock. The number of children born out-of-wedlock varies by region, ethnic group (Muslims for example are very unlikely to have children out of wedlock) and social class. Children born out-of-wedlock face a number of problems, including poverty. In 2008 43% of families headed by a single women had to rely on welfare as the main source of household income.
Teenage Pregnancy, Abortion and Teenage Parenthood
Students attending German school receive sex education classes, which typically discuss birth controlBirth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
methods as well as abstinence
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
. While teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...
rates in Germany are lower than they are in countries such as the UK or the USA, they have been of increasing interest for the media, which have published articles on "children having children". A study revealed that teenage pregnancy was more common among young girls who had been disadvantaged in childhood, did poorly in school, and had poor expectations on the job market. It was also revealed that pregnant teenagers were more likely to come from a "broken home" than teenagers who did not fall pregnant. There also seems to be a "family tradition" of teenage parenthood as 34% of the mothers of pregnant teenagers were 20 or younger when they had their first child. While only 4% of pregnant teens planned their pregnancy, 34% did not use contraception. 9.8% of all pregnant teens and 13.4% of all pregnant 17-year-olds already had a child before they became pregnant again.
A pregnant German teen has two options. She can carry the pregnancy to term or choose an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. 60% of pregnant teens choose to have an abortion. The higher a pregnant teen's educational level is, the higher her partner's educational level is, and the higher her parents' socioeconomic class is, the greater is her likelihood to opt for an abortion. Pregnant Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
or Protestant teens are just as likely as atheist teens to have an abortion when they experienced unwanted pregnancy. Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
teens are more likely to carry the pregnancy to term.
Several studies revealed that a high percentage of teenaged parents were special-needs kids. Many of those special-needs teenagers find themselves unable to care for their offspring's emotional needs. A teenaged parent may ask a Familienhelfer (family helper) to help her out. Family helpers are social workers who will help the young parents run the household, go shopping for them, or help them with the kids. A young parent may also choose to move to a Mutter-Kind-Heim ("Mother-Child-Home"). A Mutter-Kind-Heim is a place were troubled parents live and professionals care for the young parent and her offspring.
Integration of immigrants
ImmigrationImmigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
continues to be a concern of both economic and social importance. Germany has always been and still is a society with a considerable rate of immigration. Together with the enactment of a new set of immigration laws, integration of migrants has become a main focus of official federal policy. By virtue of language courses and courses on culture, politics, and society, which are largely state-financed, integration
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
of new migrants is regulated country-wide; in some specified cases, participation in such courses is compulsory. Furthermore, the new law provides for fewer formalities and more options for highly skilled third-country nationals to enter the country for working there; citizens of European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member states generally enjoy the right to abode and work in Germany, thus, their stay is not regulated. At the same time, with a view to security threats by international terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, expulsion of foreign hate-mongers and suspected terrorists in Germany has been made easier. As a result of enhanced security measures, immigrants (especially those from Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n countries) may face police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
inquiries (such as requests for identification
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
), which some voices regard as undue.
New immigrants face prejudices and problems integrating with the native population and often segment into separate communities. Higher rates of delinquency and more general integration problems persist amongst some migrant groups. Notwithstanding police operations focusing on this matter, migrants may still be subject to racist assaults mainly in rural areas or small towns in former East Germany. Such problems are not unique to Germany and the incidence of the more severe of these problems are relatively rare in perspective. Some German states (which are responsible for education affairs) have banned Muslim teachers from wearing headscarves
Headscarf
Headscarves or head scarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as for warmth, for sanitation, for fashion or social distinction; with religious significance, to hide baldness, out of modesty, or other...
in class, generally by prohibiting the use of all religious symbols by teachers; this issue is being intensively discussed in the general public. Unlike France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, German states have not extended this ban to pupils. German political backlash due to integration with Europe is resulting in new laws seeking to equalize the pay of eastern European workers (such as those from Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) in an effort to curb the advantages to their hire. Alleged and real competition of "cheap" labour force mainly from Eastern Europe is an issue which right and far-right political groups - in some areas with some success - try to use to promote nationalist approaches in immigration policy. However, during the last decades, no far-right movement has been able to gain enough support to win seats in federal elections or to play any important role in politics on the federal level.
A study released by the OECD revealed that immigrants in Germany perform much worse at school than their counterparts elsewhere. There were great differences in scholastic performance between different groups of immigrants (see also: Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
Academic achievement among different groups in Germany
Differences in academic achievement among different ethnic groups in Germany is a topic that has drawn the interest of the German academic and scientific communities....
).
Gay Issues
Germany has some of the most liberal laws in Europe regulating the status of gaysHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s, though less so than other countries such as the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Gay partnerships which are just short of marriage have been permitted since 2001. Gays and lesbians can legally adopt their partner's biological children (so called stepchild adoption). Legally partnered gays are exempted from Germany's compulsory conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
(as are married heterosexuals). Legally partnered gays are not required to testify against each other in court. Gay couples do not enjoy the tax benefits that heterosexual couples do. Politically, this has caused a "clash of cultures", with the states of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
suing against the introduction of "life partnerships" in 2001. They argued the law was violating a clause of the Basic Law
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies of World War II on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May, as the constitution of those states of West Germany that were initially included...
stating "marriage and family" were under the state's "special protection". In 2002, the Federal Court of Justice of Germany
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
The Federal Court of Justice of Germany in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the supreme court in all matters of criminal and private law...
ruled that this protection did not mean the legislature could not grant other arrangements similar, or even the same, rights. Nevertheless, Bavaria has declared its intent to sue against the recently introduced stepchild adoption. The Christian Social Union
Christian Social Union
Christian Social Union may refer to:*Christian Social Union of Bavaria, a political party in Bavaria, Germany*Christian Social Union , a nineteenth and early twentieth-century organization within the Church of England...
and Christian Democratic Union of Germany political parties have been actively working to restrict extensions in legal rights granted to homosexuals. At the same time the opposition leader of the Free Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
, Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle
Guido Westerwelle [] is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has been serving as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011. He is the first openly gay person to hold either of those positions...
, has called for an increase in rights (in particular economic rights) and has stated that the government has not gone far enough (in spite of having voted against the introduction of life partnerships in parliament in 2001). In general, Germany is one of the more legally and socially tolerant countries towards homosexuals. Despite this general tolerance, debate on the status of homosexuals continues.
The Debate About the "New Underclass"
The German underclass debate was sparked by an 2004 article in the German magazine Stern and by SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
chairman Kurt Beck
Kurt Beck
Kurt Beck is a German politician , serving as the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 1994 and as President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. On May 14, 2006, he succeeded Matthias Platzeck as Chairman of the German Social Democratic Party...
. In his 2004 article Walter Wüllenweber addressed social issues such as child poverty, unemployment and out of wedlock births. However, unlike many scholars, he does not perceive lack of economic opportunity, but rather lack of education and the failure of underclass persons to embrace middle class values to be the roots of this social problem. In 2006 Beck stated that "There are far too many people in Germany who see no more hope of improving their situation" and "Many people call it an underclass problem."
A number of journalists have picked up that word and published articles about what they called underclass-women and described them as having "no job, no education, no chance, no husband, no love". They were perceived as unfit mothers who could not provide for their large families. Underclass males were perceived as violent and absent fathers. This portrayal of poor persons has been criticized by a number of scientists such as Fabian Kessel, who said that the media were wrong and there was no underclass. The underclass is a construct of the mass media according to Kessl
In a 2009 interview SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
politician and board member of the German central bank Thilo Sarrazin
Thilo Sarrazin
Thilo Sarrazin is a German politician and former member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank...
talked about ethnic minorities in Germany. According to Sarrazin most people from certain ethnic groups were of low IQ, were neither willing nor able to contribute to society, did not embrace German values, hated German society, and kept having children in order to increase their welfare benefits. Sarrazin has been criticized by politicians Vural Öger
Vural Öger
Vural Öger is a German politician of Turkish descent, and Member of the European Parliament with the Social Democratic Party of Germany, part of the Socialist Group and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs.He is a substitute for the Committee on Transport and Tourism, a...
(who accused him of blaming the victim) and Gerhard Schick
Gerhard Schick
Dr Gerhard Schick is a German politician, specifically a Green Party representative in the Bundestag.-Political career:...
(who has called his opinion "nasty"). Safter Çınar, spokesman for the Turkish Association in Berlin, said Sarrazin's remarks were insulting and untrue.
External links
- "Berlin blues" relatively long article by The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
on the current economical problems and mood in Germany shortly before the general elections (September 15, 2005)