Family Values

According to a new survey carried out by the Federal Statistics Office, Germany has experienced a major shift in family structures over the last 10 years.

The results show that the number of families with at least one child under 18 dropped by 7 percent to 8.8 million between 1996 and 2006, with the steepest decline -- a 28 percent drop -- in the eastern part of the country. While the highest share of the country's people living in traditional families (42 percent) are in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, the lowest concentration is in Saxony in the east, home to only 31 percent.

"This tells us that we need to take better care of families," said Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin on Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Spreading patchwork

Another noticeable change over the last 10 years has been a 30-percent increase in the number of single parents and non-married parents to 2.3 million -- again with a concentration of 42 percent in eastern Germany compared to 22 in the west.

"This results in a shift in family structures," said Walter Radermacher, president of the federal statistics office.

The highest density is in the capital, where at 47 percent, almost half of the city's 330,000 families are "patchwork." In Baden-Württemberg, meanwhile, four of five families consist of married parents.

Economic factors

The number of children per family is also falling, with the trend to smaller families showing no sign of abating.

Most families (53 percent) have one child, 36 percent have two and a mere 11 percent have three children or more. The average German family now has 1.61 children compared to 1.65 10 years ago.

Possible reasons for this development include financial worries in regions where unemployment is high, and the ongoing exodus of young women from eastern Germany.

"It's now up to the politicians to find the causes behind this disintegration of the family model and come up with new ways of countering the trend," said Radermacher. "The statisticians are only responsible for the numbers."