Diverse Living Arrangements

New forms of relationships and family units shape German society. Yet in spite of the individualised and highly mobile world of the 21st century, the family still retains a key role. According to the “Monitor Familienforschung” (Family Research Monitor), three quarters of the population felt welcome as a family, while nearly half of parents regard Germany as a (very) family-friendly country. At the same time, ideas are changing about what a family typically looks like. Less than half the people in Germany live as part of a family unit. Despite the decline of traditional family structures, married couples with children under 18 constituted the most common family form in 2023, making up around 70% of family units. There were 361,000 marriages in 2023. Since 2005, the divorce rate has been gradually declining, with 277 out of every 1,000 marriages ending in divorce in 2023. There were around 42,000 new marriages between German and foreign citizens in 2023.

The number of children born to cohabiting unmarried parents is growing significantly. Today, 12% of the 8.5 million families with children under 18 have unmarried parents. Nearly 20% are single parents, most of them women. Single parents are particularly at risk of experiencing poverty. 21.8% of single parents with children under 18 live mainly on state benefits.

There were more than 9,200 new same-sex marriages in Germany in 2023. In total, more than 84,800 same-sex couples have got married since 2017. In 2017 the Bundes­tag had passed legislation to provide “marriage for all”. Gay couples now have the right to a full marriage and hence also to adopt children, for example. Furthermore, the Federal Government Federal Government The Federal Government and cabinet is made up of the Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. While the Chancellor holds the power to issue directives, the ministers have departmental powers, meaning that they independently run their respective ministries in the framework of those directives… Read more › intends to introduce the principles of “communities of responsibility”. This aims to make it easier for two or more people to take responsibility for one another.

While new forms of cohabitation and family life are emerging, so is the number of single-person households, which now account for over 40% of all private households. On the one hand this development is due to demographic changes which have led to an increase in the number of older people living alone, but on the other hand more young people are also living on their own. According to a forecast by the Federal Statistical Office, one in four people in Germany will be living alone in 2040.