Freie Wähler on families

The Free Voters want self-employed women to be financially covered during pregnancy and after birth as well. A mechanism is to be created in which the costs are shared collectively, as they are for employees. Women who run a business should not have to choose between their company and a family.

Employed women have maternity protection. Self-employed women do not have it today. The Free Voters want to change that. Everyone should share the costs, as is done for employees.

The platform notes that the Maternity Protection Act applies only to women in an employment relationship and a few other groups. According to the party, self-employed women currently have no way to insure against the economic risk of pregnancy and birth. Standard business interruption policies usually do not cover this period, and the platform also considers daily sickness benefits unsuitable. A collectively financed solution modeled on the rules for employees is therefore to be created.

The Free Voters call for more affordable and flexible daycare places, including early and late hours. According to the platform, a lack of childcare keeps many women out of paid work and later leads to pension gaps. For that reason, child-rearing periods should also count more toward pensions.

The Free Voters want more daycare places. The places should be affordable. They should also be open early and late in the day. This makes it easier for mothers to work. People who raise children should get a higher pension later.

The platform names the lack of reliable care in daycare and elementary school as an obstacle to women's employment. Training and mentoring are meant to support the return to work after parental leave. Fathers should take a larger part in parental leave and childcare, and companies should offer family-friendly, flexible working hours. To prevent poverty in old age, child-rearing periods should carry more weight in pension calculations and women should get help with financial planning.

The Free Voters want to create a family center in every municipality that families in crisis can turn to. In addition, more short-term care places for children are to be created to relieve families in emergencies.

Some families go through a crisis. The Free Voters want to help them. Every town should get a family center. People can get advice there easily. In an emergency, children should also be able to stay somewhere else for a short time.

The centers are to offer easy-access counseling and support and stabilize families during difficult periods. Expanding short-term care for children is meant to allow fast help with little paperwork. The platform justifies this by saying children need a stable environment.

The Free Voters want to better protect children and adolescents from violence, drugs, extremism and manipulation on social media, mainly through education in schools and local reporting points. Child marriages concluded abroad are not to be recognized in Germany, without exception. For the party, protecting the child ranks above the parents' freedom of religion.

The Free Voters want to protect children better. Schools should teach about dangers. There should be local places where people can report problems. Marriages with children from abroad should not count in Germany. For the party, protecting children matters more than the parents' religion.

Prevention concepts and campaigns are to be developed together with the states. Reporting should be easy and handled quickly by trained staff; teachers, childcare staff and health care contacts should be networked. The federal government is to support municipalities in this task, and help should extend from pregnancy counseling to early adulthood. Based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the platform also names a balanced daily meal, fighting child poverty and social security for children. Germany should also stand up for child protection abroad.