Misguided family policy: have children become unaffordable?

Family policy has become an important political issue in Germany. The low birth rate will have far-reaching effects in all areas of public life. To bring about change, Prof. Notburga Ott, University of Bochum, argues for a new paradigm in family policy: "Placing the complete emphasis on increasing transfers to families points in the wrong direction." For Gerhard Engelbrech, of IAB in Nuremberg, increased transfers are counterproductive with regard to increasing the birth rate: "Financial aid to families is a weak stimulus for increasing the birth rate and is even detrimental in terms of improving opportunities for women in the labour market and meeting the needs for skilled labour. The money spent is then lacking for improving the conditions for day-care, which would be a more effective way of counteracting demographic change. Prof. em. Heinz Lampert, University of Augsburg, and Adreas Storm, Member of the German Parliament, argue that improving the financial situation of families is absolutely necessary to achieve a just burden sharing between people with and those without children.