What do the parties in Lower Saxony say on families?

The AfD wants to introduce a Betreuungsgeld (home care allowance) for the first three years of a child's life so that parents and grandparents can care for small children themselves. It points to studies it says show risks of care outside the family.

The AfD wants a new payment for parents. Parents should get it when they care for their small child at home. The payment should last three years. The amount depends on earlier pay. The AfD thinks care in the family is better for small children.

The AfD rejects writing separate children's rights into the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). In its view this would give the state an undue right to intervene in child-rearing. It regards the traditional family of father, mother and children as the ideal.

Some want to add children's rights to the constitution. The AfD is against this. It says the state could then interfere too much in parenting. The family as a whole should stay protected.

The AfD wants to develop Ehegattensplitting (joint taxation of spouses) into family splitting, where the number of children shapes the tax rate. Parents would get €20,000 in pension contributions refunded or waived per child. Families should also get cheaper access to building land and home ownership.

The AfD wants families with children to pay less tax. More children means less tax. For each child, parents should get back 20,000 euros in pension payments. Families should also get cheaper land to build on.

The AfD demands that unmarried parents also share custody from birth. Visitation rights and duties are to be strengthened for both parents. A parent who blocks contact without serious reason could lose part of their custody rights.

Unmarried parents should also share care for their child. This should apply from birth. Both parents should be able to see their child after a breakup. A parent who blocks this should get fewer custody rights.

Every child should be able to join a sports club of their choice free of charge, with the state covering the fees. The AfD wants this to counter childhood obesity, ease the burden on families and support clubs' youth programs. It also calls for more education about the dangers of digital media.

Every child should be able to join a sports club for free. The state of Lower Saxony should pay the fees. Children should move more this way. The AfD also wants more teaching about dangers online.

The AfD wants crisis counseling for pregnant women to no longer be open-ended but aimed at the woman having the child. Giving a child up for adoption should be presented more strongly as an alternative to abortion. Protection of unborn life should be covered in schools and broadcasting.

Pregnant women in crisis go to counseling. The AfD wants this counseling to speak up for the child. Women should learn more about adoption there. Schools and broadcasters should also talk about protecting unborn children.

The CDU wants to keep expanding childcare according to demand and create more nursery places. The state would support cities and towns in doing so, and the federal government should also share the costs.

The CDU wants more places in daycare and nurseries. The state should help cities and towns with this. The federal government should also give money. Every child should be able to go to daycare.

The CDU wants to pay childminders better and give home-based childcare more support so that supply grows. Legal hurdles for larger childminding groups are to be removed.

Childminders look after children at home or in small groups. The CDU wants to give them more money. This should lead to more childminders. Larger childminding groups should also be easier to set up.

The CDU wants to reorganize family centers as contact points for parenting questions and fund them more, especially in rural areas. Large families are to get a family card that makes visiting museums, zoos and similar places easier.

The CDU wants more family centers. Parents get advice and help there. They should also exist in the countryside. Families with many children should get a family card. It makes visits to museums and zoos easier.

The CDU backs ten days of statutory leave for fathers after a birth at the federal level. It also wants to act against disadvantages for parents at work and give parenthood more recognition in tax and pension law.

The CDU wants fathers to get ten days off after a birth. A law for all of Germany should set this. Parents should not be treated worse at work. People with children should do better on taxes and pensions.

The CDU wants to accompany couples in family planning and continue help for those unable to conceive. Fertility clinics are to be funded and adoption law made easier.

Some couples want a child and cannot have one. The CDU wants to keep helping these couples. It wants to fund clinics for this. Adoption should also become easier.

The CDU wants to bring daycare, schools and youth welfare together in a single ministry in order to fight child abuse more effectively. Uniform standards for child protection, youth welfare offices and family courts are to apply statewide.

The CDU wants a ministry for children and youth. It should be in charge of daycare, schools and youth welfare. The CDU wants to protect children better from abuse this way. Youth offices should have enough staff everywhere. Judges should get better training for working with children.

The CDU wants a state child protection law that makes data exchange between youth welfare offices, doctors, schools and prosecutors easier. Suspected child abuse is to become subject to mandatory reporting, and protecting children is to take priority over data protection.

The CDU wants a new law to protect children. Anyone who suspects abuse must report it. Offices, doctors and schools should share data more easily. Protecting children should matter more than protecting data.

The CDU wants to require protection plans against violence and sexualized violence at all schools and daycare centers and to oblige youth work associations to adopt them as well. Preventive support, medical contact points and technical help for investigators are to be expanded.

Every school and daycare center should have a plan against violence. This should also apply to clubs that work with children. There should be more help for young families. Police should use computer programs to find abuse images faster.

The CDU wants to introduce a youth support law and provide more money for youth work. The aim is to give young people the time and backing to discover their talents.

The CDU wants a new law to support young people. Youth work should get more money. Young people should find out what they are good at. The CDU also wants to strengthen volunteer services.

The Greens want to gradually expand all-day care in daycare centers and, above all, raise its quality. The core is a better staff-to-child ratio, to be reached through a phased plan for a third staff member in each group.

The Greens want more all-day places in daycare. They also want better care. Each group should get a third trained worker. This should happen step by step. Staff should get more time to prepare.

The Greens want inclusion in nurseries and kindergartens to be regulated by law. Every group should have special-needs education expertise, and daycare centers across the state should become barrier-free.

Children with and without disabilities should go to daycare together. The Greens want a law for this. Each group should have someone trained in special-needs education. New daycare centers should be built without barriers. Language support should also grow.

The Greens want to strengthen democratic participation, media literacy and environmental education in daycare centers. Forest kindergartens are to receive more funding and be easier to set up.

Children should learn to have a say in daycare. They should also learn how to use media. The Greens support daycare centers that teach a lot about nature. Forest kindergartens should get more money. Setting them up should be easier.

The Greens want rainbow and blended families to be legally recognized, for example in the law on parentage and adoption. More than two people should be able to be legal parents. According to the platform, family is wherever people care for one another.

There are many kinds of families. The Greens want the law to recognize all of them. A child should be able to have more than two parents. People who are not married should also be able to take responsibility for each other.

The Greens want to give youth organizations and youth work providers more support and revise the state youth funding law to do so. Municipalities are also to get help preserving and creating areas for play and exercise.

The Greens want to give more money to youth work. They will change a law for this. There should be more places to play and meet. Young people do not have to buy anything there.

The Greens want to implement the recommendations of the state parliament's inquiry commission on child protection and secure them with a new state child protection law. According to the platform, children and young people have a right to grow up free from violence.

Children should grow up without violence. The Greens want to make a new law for this. Day care centers, schools and sports clubs should have protection plans. Help should come early when a child is in danger.

The Greens oppose cuts to youth welfare services and to child and youth work. They want above all to strengthen outreach support in families, secure the youth workshops, and prevent support from ending on a young person's 18th birthday.

The Greens do not want cuts to youth welfare. Youth welfare helps children, teens and families in hard situations. Help inside families should get stronger. Young people should still get help after they turn 18.

The SPD wants to turn family centers into counseling hubs that link schools, daycare, youth work, and early childhood support. New centers are to be set up where none exist. More families should also be able to take part in family retreats and vacation programs.

Family centers should give families better advice. They should connect schools, daycare and youth work. Places without a family center should get one. Families with little money should find it easier to go on vacation.

The SPD wants to improve children's participation rights and attention to the child's best interests under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at all levels. It supports writing children's rights into the Grundgesetz (Germany's constitution).

Children have their own rights. The SPD wants to make these rights stronger. Children should have more of a say. Children's rights should also be written into the constitution.

The SPD wants to improve child protection through a dedicated state law, ombuds offices across the state, and uniform standards for youth welfare services. The plan responds to serious cases of violence against children. Campaigns for non-violent parenting are also planned.

Children should be better protected from violence. The SPD wants a special law for this. There should be help offices everywhere in the state. Protection should be equally good in every town. There should be more counseling against violence.