What does family life look like for children in Germany? What are daycare, school and free time like for them? What values and responsibilities do they take on?
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00:00This is Lena, 11, and Max, 9.
00:08The two siblings are on their way to school, alone, without their parents.
00:12For us, it's actually quite normal.
00:17It's more fun to go with friends.
00:21What's normal everyday life for parents Michael and Rebecca Strothmann and their children
00:25is also normal for families across Germany.
00:30Children need to have their own experiences in certain areas.
00:34It's important for German children to learn self-reliance and personal responsibility.
00:39But what else can be said to be typical of family life in Germany?
00:45The Strothmanns from Emsland and the Schmitt family from Berlin are two quite average German
00:51families.
00:52The majority of the 8.5 million families in Germany have one to two children.
00:56Among them are 1.7 million mothers or fathers who are raising their children solo.
01:03At that moment, at the very latest, it has to be clear who is minding the baby.
01:08For Beate Schmitt and Konrad Kalisch from Berlin, it was clear from the start that they
01:13both wanted to share the parenting and housework equally.
01:16For up to 14 months after the birth, most parents in Germany receive 65% of their monthly
01:22income.
01:23And both parents are free to split the parental allowance between them.
01:27This is supposed to ensure more equality in parenting.
01:32The time comes when they start to move around, learning to walk and so on.
01:37I was still on parental leave and I got to experience all of that.
01:40It's really great.
01:42I wouldn't want to miss it.
01:44I'd recommend it to any father.
01:47But three-fourths of fathers only take this career break for the minimum period, which
01:51is two months.
01:52As a result, housework and child-rearing is still mainly done by mothers.
01:58Beate and Konrad's son Kasimir goes to a daycare center in Berlin.
02:03In Germany, all toddlers are entitled to daycare from the age of one, but most start at three.
02:08The motto here is learning while playing.
02:13The child has to deal linguistically with other opinions during play.
02:17They're independent, but constantly exposed to conflicts and contradictions with playmates.
02:24And they have to learn to compromise and to tolerate frustration.
02:29This is practiced automatically during play.
02:32And that's why playing is so important.
02:36Children are cared for in this daycare from Monday to Friday, 6.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
02:42In some German states, daycare is free of charge.
02:45In others, parents have to pay up to 1,000 euros a month.
02:48And what's it like when the children start going to school?
02:51Let's take a look at the Strothmann family in Emsland.
02:55Lena and Max come home from school hungry.
02:58Around half of school kids in Germany eat lunch at home instead of at school.
03:02Rebecca works part-time and cooks for the family every lunchtime.
03:06Lena and Max usually get home from school between one and two o'clock.
03:10Until the meal is ready, they prepare their own snack.
03:13And they have practice using a sharp knife.
03:16That's completely normal for us.
03:19At some point, they just wanted to try to cut something themselves.
03:23And then you let them, of course.
03:25Michael, who works nearby as a car salesman, is also there for lunch.
03:30But the kids, like all kids, are picky and don't eat the curry.
03:34They want the homemade pizza from the day before.
03:37Lena and Max each have their own room, where they do their homework.
03:40They usually finish all their assignments in around 30 minutes.
03:43Then they have free time.
03:49I think you shouldn't impose too much stress on a child at such a young age.
03:55You should give the child enough free time to do whatever they want and not schedule
04:00their whole day.
04:09It was important to both of us that the children practice at least one sport, whatever they
04:13want, where they meet other kids and also learn to experience successes, but also failures.
04:22Both children are active in sports clubs outside of school.
04:26Max plays soccer, Lena is a competitive gymnast.
04:29In Germany, around half of children and young people play sports in a club.
04:35The most important thing, I'd say, is the family, togetherness.
04:39That the children feel secure at home.
04:42It's important that the kids can be kids and can simply develop pretty much as they
04:47wish.
04:50We want them to grow up feeling safe, that they know they are valued and that they feel
04:56loved with all their quirks and differences.
05:03The Schmidt family and the Strothmann family.
05:06Two quite different families who have one big thing in common, they are both raising
05:11their kids in a typically German way.