At the height of the federal election campaign, a new study by the Federal Statistical Office provides political explosives.
The survey “Consumer spending by families for children”, which is available to the FAZ, lists exactly how much money parents in Germany spend on their offspring.
The sums are high - and the differences between the income classes are considerable.
The study thus highlights the causes and effects of material inequality that the parties want to combat.
Christoph Schäfer
Responsible editor for economy and finance online.
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According to statisticians, couples spend an average of 763 euros a month on an only child.
Two children cost 1276 euros, three children a proud 1770 euros.
As the number of children rises, the costs also increase in relative terms: an only child consumes 21 percent of all consumer spending of the couple.
Two children make up exactly one third of the money, for three children a couple has to scrap an average of 41 percent of their total expenses.
The high costs make it clear why in scientific studies the fact “at least three children” is listed as a possible cause of economic poverty - just like illnesses and a missing professional qualification.
However, the expenditure per child does not increase evenly.
Just like in industrial production, the costs for children also decrease with the number, because parents of only children have higher initial purchase costs, for example for a changing table.
As the family size increases, parents spend less and less on clothing for each child, because the younger children can wear the jackets and pants of their older siblings.
Per capita spending on food also falls because large packs are not significantly more expensive than small ones.
Rich parents spend three times as much money
What is particularly striking, however, are the extremely different amounts that rich and poor parents spend on their children. For this purpose, the statisticians divided the parents in Germany into ten groups of equal size. The 10 percent with the lowest incomes spent 424 euros on an only child. The 10 percent with the highest income, on the other hand, spent 2.9 times as much on their only child with 1,212 euros. To put it more simply: rich parents spend three times as much money to give their child a good start in life.
The large differences suggest that the amounts invested almost inevitably have an effect on the child's starting chances. The differences in health care are particularly blatant: poor children receive 11 euros for this, while they are more than ten times as much (113 euros). For books, children in high-income households receive three times the sum (27 euros vs. 9), as well as for “education” in general (83 euros vs. 28). Parents of rich children spend 87 euros a month on clothes and shoes, poor children only 36. The table does not even mention any amount for “travel” for poorer children - the number of cases is too small for this, poor children rarely travel.
The Federal Office's survey is based on the largest income survey in Germany, the so-called income and consumption sample.
This takes place every five years.
Around 60,000 households took part in the current survey in 2018.
There are no newer figures, because of the large amount of data and complex calculations, the evaluation by the Federal Office is very up-to-date and will not be advertised until this Tuesday.
The study also confirms an experience that parents of older children have: As the child ages, its costs increase.
Parents spend an average of € 679 per month on an only child under the age of 6.
If the child is between 6 and 12 years old, the cost increases to 786 euros, and up to the age of 953 euros.
In their report, the researchers place value on the finding that the costs for the children's private consumption mentioned in the study are lower than the actual costs. The survey does not include any expenses for children that go beyond private consumption. For example, additional insurance such as liability insurance is not included, but monetary gifts and maintenance payments are also excluded. However, the mentioned costs of 763 euros for an only child, for example, are not to be understood as net costs that the couple could otherwise spend entirely on themselves. Income from the child, such as child benefit or parental benefit, is not included, nor are tax benefits.
In order to answer the question of what costs children really incur, a calculation with all this data would not be enough. A complete calculation also includes the opportunity costs that arise when one parent cuts off work in favor of the children. In addition, it is almost impossible to calculate the income disadvantages due to lost career opportunities and deductions in later retirement.