55 percent think having children in Germany is unaffordable

A new Insa survey has revealed that 55 percent of people believe having children in Germany is no longer affordable. Housing, food and energy costs were cited among the main reasons.

Is having children affordable in Germany?

A new survey conducted by Insa on behalf of Bild has found that 55 percent of people believe having children is no longer affordable in Germany. 34 percent believe the federal republic is still an affordable place to raise children, and 11 percent were undecided.

Of those who said having children was unaffordable in Germany, 81 percent cited high living costs, namely for rent, food and energy, as the central barrier to having a family.

40 percent said reduced incomes from parental leave or part-time work made raising children less affordable. 59 percent cited high taxes as a major barrier, 48 percent said government funding to support families was insufficient, and 58 percent of respondents said there were too few spaces available at childcare facilities. 

Childcare shortages have worsened in Germany in recent years. In western federal states, 15 percent of children under three lack a Kita space, but in eastern federal states, the shortage is decreasing as birth rates continue to decline.

Why are people in Germany having fewer children?

Germany’s birth rate currently sits at 1,35 children per woman, and according to a December 2024 Ipsos survey, 60 percent of men see having children as a must, compared to just 33 percent of women.

So why are fewer women in Germany choosing to have children? Unaffordability plays a role, but is just one factor. “The fact is that, in most cases, mothers' lives change much more drastically than fathers’ lives when a child is born, ” Julia Heyne and Dr Andreas Baum explain in Apotheken Umschau.

According to a 2023 report on maternal health from the Barmer Institute for Health Research, extra care work taken on by mothers results in increased burnout, depression, exhaustion and anxiety disorders, as well as migraines, metabolic disorders, respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

Speaking to Apotheken Umschau, therapist Sally Schulze suggested that younger generations of women are less willing to sacrifice their time, good mental health or career development to raise children.

“I think there are many people [who have figured] out how much self-care they need to invest in themselves in order to cope well. And then they wonder how they are supposed to do that when they have to meet the needs of a baby, perhaps without the support of family, etc. They then say to themselves, “Sure, somehow it always works out. But do I even want that?”’