Overview
- Fifty-five percent agree they cannot afford children in Germany, 34% disagree and 11% are undecided.
- Respondents point to living costs (81%), taxes and levies (59%), childcare shortages (58%), insufficient state support (48%) and income losses from parental leave or part-time work (40%).
- Skepticism is strongest among 30–49-year-olds, with over 60% in that group saying children are financially hardly bearable, according to INSA.
- Childcare access shows a regional split, with about 15% of under‑threes lacking places in West Germany while some facilities in the East are closing as local birth cohorts shrink.
- The representative blitz survey questioned 1,003 people on 19–20 February 2026 with a maximum margin of error of ±3.1 points, and it lands as Germany wrestles with persistently low birth numbers.