Nearly 15% of children in Germany facing poverty

Nearly 2.2 million children under the age of 18 were at risk of falling into poverty in Germany last year, corresponding to a poverty risk rate of 14.8%, the Federal Statistical Office said Wednesday.

The extent to which children and young people are at risk of poverty also depends on the education of their parents, it said.

The office said the so-called at-risk-of-poverty rate for children and young people whose parents had a low level of education, such as a secondary school diploma without a vocational qualification as the highest qualification, was 37.6% in 2022.

In contrast, only 14.5% of those under the age of 18 with parents with an intermediate level of education were at risk of poverty.

Parents with educational qualifications, including completed vocational training or a high school degree fall into that group. If the parents had a master's degree or a university degree, just 6.7% of those children and young people were at risk of poverty.

Those at risk of poverty are those who have less than 60% of the median income of the population. In 2022, the value for a person living alone in Germany was €1,250 ($1,375) net per month. For two adults with two children under the age of 14, it was €2,625 ($2,905).