An old bon mot is that a large number of children leads to poverty. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but at least children are an expensive pleasure even in a social market economy like Germany. The figures from the Federal Statistical Office speak for themselves. If you subtract child benefit and a few social transfers from the average monthly costs for an only child of 763 euros, you will be left with net costs of roughly 400 to 500 euros. That is a lot of money, which is why many families use a sharp pencil to calculate.
In the past two legislative periods in particular, the grand coalition has done a lot with building child benefit, more child benefit, the child bonus and a free daycare morning for families.
The financial gap still remains substantial.
It is not for nothing that the abbreviation DINKS (double income, no kids) has made its way into the social debate and the Duden.
However, it must be particularly thought-provoking that poor children only receive a third of the money that rich parents invest in their offspring.
As pleasant as this is for the wealthy, the assumption that the starting chances in life are very unevenly distributed is obvious.