Background

From 1 August this year, every child older than 12 months has a legal right to a place in a daycare centre. At the same time, parents also have the option of applying for a so-called childcare allowance if they look after their children at home themselves. Both approaches are intended to support parents - and at the same time provide incentives to increase the birth rate in Germany in the long term. This is also necessary, as Germany has a birth rate of 1.36 (100 women have 136 children), which is below the EU average of 1.57. But why do Germans have so few children? The non-profit organisation BAT-STIFTUNG FÜR ZUKUNFTSFRAGEN investigated this question in its latest survey and asked a representative sample of over 2,000 people aged 14 and over why so many Germans do not start a family. 

Core result

The majority of people cite the financial costs of having children, the fear of losing their own freedom and concerns about a career setback as the main reasons for not having children. A lack of state requirements, such as insufficient childcare facilities, is also cited by almost every second citizen, although this argument is mentioned significantly more often in the West (63%) than in the East (40%). 

Differences within the population

Different views are evident within individual population groups:
Families complain more often than average about the lack of state requirements (50%), childless couples cite a lack of balance between work and family (58%), and singles cite the fear of divorce more often than average (24%). Those with a higher level of formal education assume that it is difficult to reconcile a career with a family (62%), whereas those with a lower level of formal education state that children cost money and that many cannot or do not want to afford them (70%).
There are also major differences between working men and women. For example, working women cite concerns that children will not be able to lead a secure and carefree life in the future (44%; men 35%), a lack of work-family balance (56%-50%), but also fear of divorce (19%-16%) significantly more often than working men. In contrast, men tend to cite a lack of money (70%; women 66%) or a lack of meaning in life through children (24%-20%) as reasons against starting a family.

Time comparison

A year-on-year comparison with 2011 shows that financial (+9 percentage points) and professional reasons (+6 PP) are cited more frequently, whereas the argument of an uncertain future for the children has become significantly less important (-7 PP).  

Interpretation and conclusion

Professor Dr Ulrich Reinhardt, Scientific Director of the Foundation: "The uncertainty, almost fear, of starting a family persists among many Germans. For an increasing number of Germans, this includes not only the fear of simply not being able to afford children or having to cut back on their own standard of living, but above all the worry of not being able to reconcile family and career and neglecting their own career. In addition, fear of a possible divorce, fear of the uncertain future prospects for children or the fear of choosing the wrong time are also mentioned."
"There are currently numerous arguments from citizens against having their own family. There is no doubt that these concerns and fears of the population cannot simply be dispelled overnight. It is up to both politicians to provide the framework conditions and companies to finally take the possibility of a career with children seriously across the board. But people should also rethink - there is no absolute security in a job or when choosing a partner, the right time is never right and the restrictions on freedom and standard of living pay off both in the short and long term - be it the countless moments of happiness with children, the cohesion in the family or the security of not being alone in old age. Starting a family is therefore worthwhile in any case."

Technical data of the investigation

Survey period: June/July 2013
2,000 respondents aged 14 and over in personal face-to-face interviews
Further information on this topic can be found in the Foundation's latest publication "Intergenerational contract instead of intergenerational betrayal".