Parents in Germany Look to the Future with Growing Pessimism
Parents in Germany are painting an increasingly bleak picture as a result of economic hardship. According to a survey conducted by the polling institute Forsa on behalf of Save the Children, one in four parents fear they will no longer be able to meet their families’ basic needs such as housing, heating and food. At the beginning of the year this figure stood at 15 per cent, but by August 2025 it had risen to 25 per cent.
The study was based on interviews with 1,000 parents across Germany who have underage children. Concerns were found to be far higher among households with a monthly net income of less than 3,000 euros. In this group, 57 per cent of parents said they were very or extremely worried about being unable to cover basic necessities – an increase of 21 percentage points compared with January.
Eric Großhaus, a representative of Save the Children, underlined the urgency of the situation and called for improvements to the government’s coalition agreement. “Many initiatives to combat child poverty have so far remained vague or only half-hearted,” he said.