Germany's demographic time bomb is compounded by the fact that those children who are born increasingly grow up in impoverished families hampered by a lack of education, bad nutrition, and poor health.
According to advance excerpts from the Kinderreport 2007, which will be officially released by the well-known NGO Children's Charity of Germany this Thursday, the number of children living on welfare in Germany now stands at about 2.5 million, more than twice the number three years ago. Today, 1 out of 6 children needs welfare support while back in 1965 it was only 1 out of 75 children. The rise in German child poverty, which has taken place against the backdrop of decades of economic expansion, is staggering.
In this context, it is above all children from poor, often Muslim, immigrant families whose parents frequently refuse to integrate into German society for religious or cultural reasons that are hardest hit. Young adults are also affected. In Berlin, for example, about 40 percent of young Turks under the age of 25 are now unemployed. A scary figure. According to Juergen Borchert, a social affairs judge who was one of the Kinderreport's co-authors, the rate of child poverty has doubled every ten years during the past four decades. Borchert describes Germany's demographic problems in truly dramatic terms:
"Germany is a colossus on the verge of collapse. Economically, this country is heading down the tubes fast because the children are no longer there."
"Germany, the home of the Kindergarten, is now the worst developed country in which to raise children. This individualistic attitude goes back to the post-war period as society took a stand against the Nazi era. Family policy still suffers from the fact that Hitler adopted a specifically pro-family policy for the soldiers."
"People simply are not used to dealing with children any more. They are seen as a nuisance."
Children in Germany are fewer, poorer, increasingly Muslim, and increasingly less likely to find employment--they are likely to become more than just a nuisance.
