AfD on families

The AfD wants to bring about a "demographic turnaround" and to that end give families noticeable financial relief. At the federal level it supports family-based income splitting for taxes and a refund of pension contributions per child. In its view, immigration should not be a substitute for missing births.

The AfD wants more children to be born. Families should pay less tax. Parents should get back 20,000 euros in pension payments per child. The AfD says immigration should not replace missing children.

The platform names the family of father, mother and children as its guiding model, while acknowledging that not every child grows up this way. The state party endorses the federal party's family policy concept. This includes family tax splitting and a refund of 20,000 euros in pension contributions per child or, alternatively, a waiver of future contributions of that amount. The reasoning is that pension, health and long-term care insurance depend on sufficiently large younger generations, and that birth numbers since the 1970s no longer provide this.

The AfD demands that care in daycare centers and with childminders be free of charge for children from the age of two. In addition, working hours, university studies and vocational training are to be made more family-friendly.

The AfD wants daycare to be free for children from age two. This also applies to childminders. The state should help with this. Parents should also be able to work and study more flexibly.

The state of Baden-Württemberg is to support the fee-free childcare. Working hours and the structure of university studies and vocational training are to be tailored more closely to families, for example through job sharing. The AfD wants to give targeted support to companies that offer such arrangements.

The AfD views the number of abortions critically and wants mandatory pregnancy conflict counseling always to aim at protecting unborn life and showing alternatives to abortion. It also wants to make anonymous births, baby hatches and adoptions easier and to support freelance midwives with a state fund for their insurance costs.

The AfD wants fewer abortions. Counseling for pregnant women should protect the unborn child. It should show other options. There should be baby hatches, and adoption should be easier. Midwives should get state money for their insurance.

The platform points to 11,400 abortions in Baden-Württemberg in 2023. In the AfD's view, counseling has often become a mere formality, which trivializes the procedure. Confidential and anonymous birth is to be expanded, baby hatches are to remain available in the state, and adoption procedures are to be simplified. For freelance midwives, whose liability premiums the platform describes as a threat to their livelihood, a fund from state money would pay subsidies, especially with rural areas in mind.

The AfD stresses parents' right to raise their children and opposes state intervention in families, which it regards as paternalism. In its view, children should be protected from what the platform calls "early sexualization" and "gender ideology."

The AfD says parents should raise their children themselves. The state should interfere less. The AfD wants to protect children from certain content. It means early teaching about sexuality and gender topics.

The platform invokes Article 6 of the Basic Law, which places the family under special protection and describes child-rearing as the right and duty of parents. In the AfD's view, growing state interference violates these rights. It derives protection from "early sexualization" and "gender ideology" from a cited Article 13, under which children must be safeguarded from psychological harm.

The AfD rejects mandatory state childcare and wants parents to choose freely between care in the family, kindergarten and Kindertagespflege (home-based day care). Home-based day care is to be strengthened as an equal option.

The AfD does not want a duty to use state childcare. Parents should decide for themselves. They can care for their child at home. They can also use a kindergarten or a childminder.

The program stresses young children's need for stable and loving caregivers. Kindergartens are to be places of play and affection and not be shaped by paperwork and performance targets. For home-based day care, the AfD highlights small groups, stable caregivers and flexible hours. Local governments are to create reliable conditions for this.

The AfD wants to ease the burden on parents during the years when children cost money, mainly through lower taxes instead of social benefits. It argues that families bear the cost of raising children while the children's later contributions benefit everyone.

The AfD wants parents to pay less tax. This should apply while children cost money. The party prefers this to social benefits. It says children later pay into the pension system. Everyone gains from that.

The platform sees strong families and private property, especially home ownership, as the basis of a broad middle class. Parents should get as much tax relief as possible while raising children. According to the platform, the goal of social policy is for as many people as possible to live on their own income. In addition, benefits not covered by contributions should be removed from the social insurance funds and paid from the state budget.