AfD on families

The AfD wants parliament to review the effects of the COVID measures on families and to prevent similar interventions in the future. The platform regards the policy of that time as a violation of fundamental rights that harmed children, parents and older people.

The AfD wants the state parliament to examine the COVID rules. The focus is on the effects on families. The AfD says the rules harmed children and old people. This should never happen again.

The platform cites closed schools and daycare centers, bans on sports and club activities, and contact restrictions. According to the party, children were not seriously endangered by the virus. Parents were overburdened by work and schooling at home, it says, and older people in care homes were isolated. The AfD sees it as its duty to prevent such interventions in the future.

The AfD wants to introduce a Kinderbegrüßungsgeld (newborn welcome payment) in Thuringia: 10,000 euros per newborn child, tax-free and spread over five years. It would go to parents who are liable for income tax because of their work. At the federal level, the party wants to push for a fairer balance between parents and childless people in taxes and pensions.

The AfD wants to introduce a welcome payment for babies. Parents get 10,000 euros for each new baby. The money is paid over five years. It is only for parents who work and owe income tax.

Both employed and self-employed parents would qualify, provided they are liable for income tax. The platform justifies the payment by saying families should be able to live on their own work. In the party's view, time spent raising children and part-time work must not lead to poverty in old age. At the federal level, the AfD therefore wants to improve the position of parents relative to childless people in taxes and pensions.

The AfD demands that parents be free to decide on upbringing and childcare and that care at home not be put at a disadvantage. At the same time, nurseries and kindergartens should offer high quality through an adequate staff-to-child ratio. The party invokes parental rights under the Basic Law.

The AfD wants parents to decide on childcare themselves. Parents who care for their child at home should not be worse off. Daycare centers should have enough staff for the children. Childcare workers should be paid well.

The platform stresses the importance of a close bond between parents and child in the first three years of life. The party rejects any erosion of parental rights under Article 6 of the Basic Law. For childcare workers, it calls for pay that reflects their work and the option to work full time. Food in kindergartens should be healthy, affordable, regional and seasonal, and come from local providers where possible.

The AfD opposes writing separate children's rights into the constitution. In its view, children already hold fundamental rights, and such a step would weaken parents' right to raise their children in favor of the state.

The AfD does not want special children's rights in the constitution. It says children already have basic rights. Parents should decide how to raise their children. The state should step in only when parents fail.

According to the platform, parents are responsible for minors first; the state may and must intervene only when parental failure endangers a child's welfare. In the AfD's view, constitutional children's rights would end up playing children off against their parents. It cites calls for children to get vaccinated or change their gender without parental consent as examples. The AfD also demands that every law and regulation be checked for its effect on families before taking effect.