Three trends are characteristic of demographic developments in Germany: a low birth rate, increasing life expectancy and an aging society. For more than 30 years now Germany has been witnessing few births: With slight fluctuations, since 1975 the number of newborn infants has been approximately 1.3 children per woman. This means that for 35 years the generation of children has been smaller than that of their parents. High rates of immigration to Germany prevented the overall population from shrinking accordingly. At the same time, as in other wealthy nations, life expectancy has risen continuously, and is now 77 years for men and 82 years for women.

The rise in life expectancy and, to an even greater extent, the low birth rates are the reason for the third trend: The ratio of young people in the overall population is decreasing, that of elderly people rising: In the early 1990s there were almost three people of an employable age for every person over the age of 60. In the early 21st century, the ratio was only 1 to 2.2 and calculations indicate that within the next decade the ratio will already be less than 1 to 2. As such the aging of society is one of the greatest challenges facing welfare and family policy. For this reason the pension insurance scheme has long since been undergoing re-structuring: As a result of demographic trends the traditional ”cross-generational contract“ is less and less able to be financed, such that private individuals are having to supplement it by making their own provisions for old age. In addition, family-related measures to increase the number of children, such as raising child benefit and increasing the number of kindergarten and crèche places, are also being implemented.