Germany sees record rise in youth living outside biological families in 2024
More young people in Germany spent 2024 growing up outside their biological families, according to new figures. A total of 221,500 children, adolescents and young adults lived in residential care or with foster families at some point during the year. This marks a 3% rise compared to 2023, with unaccompanied minors driving much of the increase.
Last year, 61,100 young people entered residential facilities or foster care for the first time. The most common reason was the absence of a reliable caregiver, accounting for 19% of cases. This often involved unaccompanied migration or a parent's illness. The second most frequent cause, at 15%, was limited parental capacity, such as struggles with child-rearing or educational challenges.
Nearly half (47%) of the young people in care came from single-parent households. Males made up 57% of those placed, while 43% were female. Around three-quarters (76%) were still minors. Unaccompanied minor refugees played a significant role in the rise. About 25,300 young people who had been taken into emergency care due to migration were living in residential facilities or foster families by 2024. Of these, roughly 1,518—around 6%—were placed with foster families rather than in residential care. On average, young people stayed in out-of-home care for 2.4 years. Residential placements lasted about 1.8 years, while foster care arrangements tended to be longer, averaging 4.3 years.
The total number of young people in care reached 221,500 in 2024, up from the previous year. Unaccompanied minors accounted for nearly two-thirds of the increase. Most placements stemmed from a lack of stable caregivers or parental support, with single-parent families representing a large share of cases.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
