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| Europe |
| Nearly every sixth German child living on social welfare: press |
| 2010-12-24 |
| IRNA -- Almost every sixth German child under the age of 15 is living on social welfare, the Saarbuecken-based daily Saarbuecker Zeitung cited government figures as saying Thursday. That gives Bambi a goal ... Around 1.74 million or 15.8 percent of Germany's children depend on the minimum form of state handouts, dubbed 'Hartz IV'. The situation is especially dramatic in the German capital where more than every third child (36.2 percent) is living on Hartz IV. According to the German government, children from single-parent, migrant and large families are especially facing the risk of being poor. Experts have cited the high unemployment rate in some parts of Germany, deep social welfare cuts and the breakdown of family values as the main reasons for the dramatic surge in the number of needy children. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 It used to be that every mother got a government stipend for the child's first three years. Mr. Wife had to explain why, as a non-citizen and temporary resident, I should not get the same stipend when trailing daughter #2 was born. Some of it may be that. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-12-24 13:28 |
| #2 What's the rate in the US? I wouldn't be surprised if it's similar. It's certainly higher if you include the school lunch program. And it includes Mohammed, Juan, LaKeesha and Dawn (but not Li.) |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-12-24 09:43 |
| #1 And his/hers name is probably Muhammad/Fatima. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-12-24 05:38 |