AfD on families

The AfD wants to support families with tax breaks and other aid, including family-based income splitting and a waiver of the real estate transfer tax for owner-occupied homes. Its aim is a higher birth rate, which it sees as necessary for the survival of the social security systems.

The AfD wants families to keep more money. Families should pay less tax. A family that buys a home to live in pays no real estate transfer tax. Students with a child also get help. The AfD wants more children to be born.

The program's model is the family of father, mother, and children; it also promises support for single parents and for blended, foster, and adoptive families. Family splitting would come on top of Kindergeld (child benefit), and family benefits would be paid out quickly with little red tape. Students with a child would get childcare at their university, up to six semesters of leave per child, and cancellation of their Bafög student loan. The AfD promises affordable, large housing for families. Family centers would get quality standards, while family centers at elementary schools and subsidized family vacations would be kept. Families with a disabled relative would get relief services and the "Eine-Pause-Haus" for short-term stays.

The AfD wants to pay a state child-rearing allowance to parents of children under three who look after their child themselves. At the same time, daycare is to stay free of charge and the number of places is to grow with demand. German is to be the mandatory language in daycare centers.

Some parents care for small children at home. The AfD wants the state to pay them for this. Daycare should stay free. There should be more daycare places. Everyone should speak German in daycare.

The allowance would match the cost of a daycare place and give parents a choice between caring for the child themselves and outside care. Fees for extra services remain allowed but should not create a two-tier system. Plans include a better staff-to-child ratio, longer opening hours for parents with unusual work schedules, and a daycare center for police, fire, and emergency service staff. Small and mid-sized providers and company daycare centers would get support. A change to the school law would allow preschool classes at elementary schools again, and school entry exams would be carried out more consistently.

The AfD wants to promote stable marriages and partnerships so that separations happen less often. If parents do split up, both should care for the children, and child support should reflect how much time each parent spends on care. Single parents are to receive more support.

The AfD wants couples to stay together. If parents split up, both should care for the child. A parent who cares more for the child should pay less child support. Single parents should get more help.

Family care services and flexible childcare are to be strengthened because, according to the program, single parents depend on them most. Family counseling centers should help separated parents agree on good visitation arrangements. The AfD wants to stop cases where contact with one parent is cut off or visitation is obstructed. Marriage, partnership, starting a family and family responsibility are to become mandatory school curriculum topics. At the federal level, the party wants unmarried fathers to get joint custody automatically if paternity has been acknowledged and there is no domestic violence.

The AfD wants youth welfare offices to take children out of their families less often and relies on in-home support and counseling instead. Parents are to get more rights and more legal help in dealing with the youth welfare office. The program justifies this with wrong decisions that, in the party's view, also hit intact families.

The youth welfare office can take children out of a family. The AfD wants this to happen less often. Families should get help and advice first. Parents should have more rights when dealing with the office.

The program names family care, family group conferences, and parenting and family counseling as in-home services. A permanent placement outside the family should only be possible in cases of physical or emotional abuse, or when children report themselves. Counseling and sanctions are to be separated within the youth welfare office. Youth welfare offices, independent providers and expert assessors are to be subject to independent oversight. Parents should get immediate access to files and be informed about their rights to object and to visitation; the youth welfare ombuds office is to be strengthened.

The AfD wants to noticeably lower the number of abortions in Berlin. Expectant parents in need are to receive money and practical help so that they decide to have the child. The party rejects state support for abortions and their recognition as a human right.

The AfD wants fewer abortions. Parents in need should get money and help. That way they should decide to have the child. The AfD does not want the state to support abortions.

The program cites just under 34,000 births and 9,700 abortions in Berlin for 2024. In the AfD's view, the protection of life already begins with the embryo. The "Frühe Hilfen" (early support) services are to be secured, and pregnant women should also get support later in family life. Women are to be shown alternatives to abortion. Adoption is to be made easier as one such alternative.

The AfD wants to make youth clubs and youth recreation facilities safe places. Crimes committed there are to be prosecuted regardless of political or cultural considerations. Youth centers that the party says have been taken over by left-wing radicals are to get a new concept.

The AfD wants youth clubs to be safe. Police should always follow up on crimes there. Where the offenders come from should not matter. Some youth centers should get a new concept.

The program refers to a case at the Wutzkyallee youth center where, according to the AfD, a rape was to be kept quiet because of the offenders' background. From this the party concludes that the safety of children and teenagers must come first. It also complains about drug dealing, street prostitution and litter in places where children live. Youth recreation facilities are meant to be open to all young people.