Child welfare endangerments in Germany reach record high in 2025

The number of child welfare endangerments in Germany reached a new record in 2025, according to data reported by the German Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden. Youth offices in the country identified approximately 79,800 children or adolescents affected by endangerments stemming from neglect, psychological, physical, or sexual violence. {claim:1, claim:2, claim:6}

This figure represents a ten percent increase compared to 2024. The rise marks the fourth consecutive year of increasing child welfare endangerment cases since data collection began in 2012, during which time the number of cases has more than doubled. {claim:3, claim:4, claim:5}

Forms and responsibility of endangerment

Neglect was identified as the most common form of endangerment, occurring in 58 percent of cases, followed by psychological abuse at 38 percent and physical abuse at 29 percent. Sexual abuse was identified in 5 percent of cases, according to one source. A quarter of the affected children showed signs of multiple forms of endangerment. {claim:7, claim:8, claim:9, claim:10, claim:11}

Regarding responsibility, almost three-quarters of cases were attributed primarily or exclusively to a father or mother. Step-parents or new partners of a parent were responsible in 4 percent of cases, while external persons were responsible in 5 percent. In nine percent of cases, multiple individuals were involved without clear primary responsibility, and in seven percent, the responsible party was unclear — sources differ on the exact breakdown of these categories. {claim:12, claim:13, claim:14, claim:15, claim:16}

Demographics and living situations

More than half of the affected children were at most eight years old at the time of the endangerment, with one in four being four years old or younger, according to some sources. In 2025, approximately 40 percent of affected children lived with both parents. In 2025, 14 percent of affected children lived with one parent and a new partner, according to one source, and 9 percent lived in foster homes, with other relatives, or at other locations, according to one source. {claim:17, claim:18, claim:19, claim:21, claim:22}

In 43 percent of cases, the affected children and adolescents were already known to youth offices through existing youth welfare services, according to one source. Additionally, in approximately one-quarter of cases, a previous endangerment report regarding the same child had been made within the same year, according to one source. {claim:32, claim:33}

Reporting sources and interventions

The majority of suspicion reports came from police and justice authorities. About one-fifth of these reports originated from relatives, acquaintances, neighbors, or anonymous informants. Other sources included schools or kindergartens at 16 percent, child, youth, or educational services at 12 percent, parents at 7 percent, and the affected minors themselves at 2 percent. {claim:26, claim:27, claim:28, claim:29, claim:30, claim:31}

In response to these cases, a support or protection measure was agreed upon in 91 percent of instances, according to one source, and sources differ on this figure. Youth offices contacted the family court in 18 percent of cases, according to one source. Possible reasons for the increase in documented cases include improved cooperation and qualification of professionals, legal changes, and increased vigilance and willingness to report. {claim:23, claim:24, claim:34}

Regional data: North Rhine-Westphalia

In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the number of identified child welfare endangerments increased by about eight percent in 2025. In this region, neglect was the most common form of endangerment, followed by psychological and physical abuse, while sexual abuse was registered significantly less frequently. Nearly three-quarters of the cases in NRW were attributed primarily or exclusively to a parent, and the average age of affected children was 8.5 years. All NRW data comes from a single regional source and is not directly comparable to national figures. {claim:37, claim:38, claim:39, claim:40}

The statistics on child welfare endangerments only include cases known to youth offices; undetected cases are not included, according to one source. A child welfare endangerment is defined as a situation involving a threat of or actual significant harm to a child's physical, mental, or emotional well-being. {claim:41, claim:42}

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In 2025, the number of children taken into temporary custody decreased by 18 percent to approximately 56,900 cases, according to one source. This decline was attributed to a near halving of the number of unaccompanied minor refugees taken into custody, according to one source. {claim:35, claim:36}