Feisty Minister Wants to End German Baby Shortage
Date: 23-Jan-06
Country: GERMANY
Author: Karin Strohecker
But Ursula von der Leyen, a feisty doctor and mother of seven, has shaken up the ministry since taking on the job in Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet, making controversial proposals that have put the family high on the political agenda.
Her calls for free childcare and extensive tax breaks for families with small children have put the spotlight on Germany's low birthrate and increasing shortage of children.
The Federal Statistics Office said on Friday that Germany's population fell for a third straight year in 2005, adding impetus to the new minister's determination to halt the decline by encouraging families to have more children.
The data show the number of Germans has fallen by 3.2 million in the past 33 years, a fall masked until recently by the flow of immigrants.
In a country where large families are now seen as an oddity - partly in reaction to the Nazis' pressure to procreate - von der Leyen's costly pro-family plans have dominated the headlines this year.
Determined to overhaul Germany's childcare system and end the frosty attitude to families, von der Leyen sparked a heated debate by urging states and communities to slash or even eliminate pre-school charges that far exceed university fees.
"I am in the middle of a storm now, but you can be sure I will stay the course," she told a news conference.
Merkel's Christian Democrats and their Social Democrat partners are now competing for votes by offering more help for families in the run-up to three state elections in spring.
The government pledged in November to expand pre-school care in the next four years for children of three and under, to give parents with new babies generous financial aid to stay at home for one year, and to give tax breaks for day care costs.
TOUGH TASKS AHEAD
Von der Leyen, whose conservative father was for many years state premier in Lower Saxony, has a tough task ahead.
Full-time motherhood, a tradition in Germany, remains a cherished ideal for many, though it is 70 years since Hitler had the idea of awarding medals to the most prolific mothers.
Today, German women find it hard to raise children and pursue a career at the same time. A law scrapped only in the 1970s even allowed a man to have his wife sacked from her job by saying she was neglecting her family.
Mothers who swap nappies for careers are still disparaged as "raven mothers" - leaving their children alone in a cold nest. Studies show one third of German women believe working mothers can't have a warm, stable relationship with their children.
There is also an acute shortage of facilities. In western Germany, there were three day care places for every 100 children under three in 2002, the last year for which data are available.
While von der Leyen's demand that childcare fees that can reach 3,700 euros a year be scrapped was welcomed by all political parties and cheered by parents, the local authorities who would have to pay for childcare in future said "No".
"Free childcare might be a nice idea," said Stephan Articus, head of the association of German municipalities. "But we simply don't have the 2 billion euros needed."