Germany: Cases of risk to children's welfare at record high

German youth welfare offices last year reported a record number of children whose welfare was at risk, with 62,300 cases registered, according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

The figure represents an increase of 4%, or 2,300 cases, compared with 2021.

Altogether 203,700 cases of suspected risk to children's well-being were assessed by youth welfare authorities, a rise of 3% compared with 2021.

The risks include those caused by neglect, psychological mistreatment or physical violence, including sexual violence.

What else did the figures say?

Authorities found signs of neglect in 59% of the cases, while more than a third of the affected children showed signs of psychological mistreatment. 

Physical violence was involved in 27% of the cases, while 5% of the children displayed indications of being sexually abused.

In a fifth of the cases, several of the risks to well-being took place at once. 

The number of children in need of educational assistance, according to authorities, also rose by 2% to 68,900.

Almost half of the children affected (47%) were already recipients of child and youth welfare services at the time the risk assessment was carried out.

Although the number of latent cases — those where risks could not be confirmed but are strongly suspected — dropped slightly, by 1%, the number of acute cases increased by 10% to 33,400 in 2022.

The number of children at long-term risk has also grown by 63% in the years from 2012, reaching some 24,000 cases in 2022.

From 2017 to 2020 — the first year of the coronavirus pandemic — the number of cases grew at a particularly fast rate of 9-10% per year, dropping slightly in the second year of the pandemic, 2021, before the renewed rise in 2022.

The new figures come as poverty is on the increase in Germany, with a growing number of households unable to afford regular nutritious meals and many people compelled to use food banks.

tj/wmr (dpa, AFP)

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