Tenth Family Report: ZEW Economist Contributes Expertise
Dates and NewsNew Report Sheds Light on the Situation of Single Parents
The Tenth Family Report was presented to Lisa Paus, Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, on 15 January 2025. It sheds light on the situation of families in Germany with a particular focus on single parents and separated parents. Professor Holger Stichnoth, head of ZEW’s “Inequality and Public Policy” Research Group, has been a member of the Family Report Expert Commission since 2023.
“It is of central importance to understand the challenges and realities of families in Germany in a differentiated way, especially those of single and separated parents. We need sound scientific analysis as a basis for developing policy recommendations that are really effective and that make family policy fit for the future," emphasises Stichnoth.
Four objectives of the Family Report
In the Tenth Family Report, the commission has formulated four key objectives and developed recommendations for action. These include, firstly, promoting the economic independence of mothers and fathers through family policy; secondly, strengthening shared parental responsibility; thirdly, combating poverty and taking into account the vulnerabilities of families; fourthly, recognising and promoting the diversity of family forms as an essential future goal.
Derived policy recommendations include a parental leave allowance reform which is to promote incentives for an equal division of care work in existing partnerships at an early stage. In addition, child day care is to be further expanded in order to provide for a legal entitlement to institutional childcare. According to the commission, it is also essential to make it easier to apply for support benefits such as child supplementary benefits, housing allowance and basic income in order to provide families with more appropriate financial support.
About the Family Report
The German government issues a report on the situation of families in Germany at least every two legislative periods. It consists of an expert report and a government statement. In January 2023, an independent commission of seven scientists was set up, and later expanded to include two experts, to compile the Tenth Family Report.
The more than 400 pages of analysis are based on extensive data, including official sources such as the Microcensus and social science studies such as the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the survey “Growing up in Germany: Everyday Worlds” (AID:A). The commission was supported in its work by the report's office at the German Youth Institute (DJI).
