Overview
- The Federal Statistical Office published first results on July 23 showing about 1.62 million single parents in Germany in 2025 and roughly 2.36 million children living with only one parent.
- People in single‑parent households faced a 28.9% poverty risk in 2025 versus 12.0% in two‑parent families, using the EU measure of incomes below 60% of the national median.
- The government’s reported proposal from Family Minister Karin Prien would lower Unterhaltsvorschuss eligibility from under 18 to under 16, which Destatis estimates would affect 373,000 sixteen‑ and seventeen‑year‑olds and 21.2% of single‑parent families.
- Advocacy groups, unions and academics immediately criticised the plan, saying it would remove around €400 a month in some households, worsen child poverty, and leave parents with limited ability to increase work hours because of care shortages.
- The statistics come from the Mikrozensus and integrated EU‑SILC sample surveys and are official but based on self‑reported prior‑year income and a roughly 1% annual sample, which means they do not detail shared custody arrangements or every local circumstance.