How safe is basic child protection? Political measures relating to child and youth poverty in Germany and Europe

On January 22, 2024, we are pleased to welcome Ekin Deligöz to the discussion event „How safe is basic child protection? Political measures around child and youth poverty in Germany and Europe“ at the Foundation!

Child and youth poverty is an unsolved structural problem in Germany and Europe. The current crisis and the associated price increases are further exacerbating the situation. In Germany, almost 2.8 million children and young people are at risk of poverty, while another 1.5 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 are affected. This means that more than one in five children and one in four young adults under the age of 25 is at risk of poverty. In other European countries, the trend is even more serious in some cases. A UNICEF research report shows, for example, that child poverty in France rose by ten percent between 2012 and 2021, and by as much as twenty percent in the United Kingdom. In Germany, by comparison, the increase was around five percent, according to the study.

One of the key projects of the current traffic light government to combat this problem in Germany is the basic child protection scheme, which is to be introduced in 2025. The basic child insurance is intended to bundle several state benefits, from child benefit to child supplement, and thus make them more accessible. Nevertheless, there are repeated political disputes regarding this plan.

Before the governing coalition was able to agree on a draft bill in September 2023, controversial discussions with the Federal Ministry of Finance about the amount of the benefit improvements led to delays. The lead ministry, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, demanded an additional twelve billion euros for basic child benefits, while the Federal Ministry of Finance was only prepared to provide two billion euros more. The budget crisis triggered by the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court has reignited the debate within the coalition on the amount of the basic child benefit. In this context, the CDU is pushing for the project to be scrapped altogether, while the FDP is not questioning the project itself, but is generally pushing for cuts to such social benefits.

We are very pleased to welcome Ekin Deligöz, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, to the Foundation on Monday, January 22 at 5:00 pm. Together with you and Parliamentary State Secretary Deligöz, we want to discuss the following and other questions: What structural problems currently exist that cause child and youth poverty in Germany and Europe? What are political measures that could effectively combat child and youth poverty in Germany? Are there countries in Europe that are more successful in combating child and youth poverty than Germany? What prospects can young adults affected by poverty be offered in order to escape poverty? What exactly should the planned basic child protection scheme look like and is its implementation still certain?

We look forward to your participation. Please register online or by e-mail by 21.01.2024.

Yours sincerely

Your team at the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe