Germany: SOCIETY

Population: At the end of 2004, Germany’s population was 82.5 million, essentially unchanged from the prior year. However, the World Bank projects that Germany’s population will decline to about 80.3 million by 2015. Average population density is about 230 people per square kilometer, but population distribution is very uneven. In the former West Germany, population density is 267 people per square kilometer, compared with 140 people per square kilometer in the former East Germany. Berlin and the industrialized Ruhr Valley are densely populated, while much of the Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania regions in the East are thinly populated. These disparities have been exacerbated by migration from East to West, as former Easterners have sought better employment opportunities. About 61 percent of the population lives in towns with 2,000 to 100,000 inhabitants; 30 percent, in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants; and the remainder, in villages with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants.

Germany’s population includes 7.3 million foreigners, including 2 million Turks and many refugees from the developing world. Many Turks came to Germany as guest workers during the economic boom from the mid-1950s to the end of 1973. Since 1970, about 3.2 million foreigners have become German citizens. With the introduction of a new citizenship law in 2000, many children of foreign parents became eligible for German citizenship for the first time. Between 1988 and 1993, more than 1.4 million refugees, many from the former Soviet Union, sought asylum in Germany, but only 57,000 were granted their wish. Although the right to asylum remains intact for legitimate victims of political persecution, restrictions on the countries of origin and entry introduced in 1993 have steadily reduced the number of those seeking asylum to a 20-year low of 50,500 in 2003. A new immigration law that took effect on January 1, 2005, promotes a more open immigration policy, particularly for highly skilled workers. The law also extends the right to asylum to the victims of genital mutilation and sexual abuse and political persecution by non-European Union groups. In 2005 Germany’s net migration rate was estimated to be 2.18 migrants per 1,000 people, placing Germany forty-second in the world in inbound migration, the same level experienced by the United Kingdom.

Demography: In 2004 population distribution by age was as follows: 0–14 years: 14.7 percent; 15–64 years: 67 percent; and 65 years and older: 18.3 percent. The elderly are growing as a percentage of the population; by 2030, those more than 60 years old are expected to reach 30 percent of the general population, up from 23 percent currently. In 2004 the birthrate was 8.5 per 1,000 people, and the fertility rate was 1.4 children born per woman, some of the lowest rates in the world. However, the population has remained stable, as rising life expectancy and immigration have offset low birth and fertility rates. In 2004 the infant mortality rate was low at 4.7 per 1,000 live births. Meanwhile, the death rate was relatively high at 10.4 per 1,000 people, but life expectancy was well above average globally. Life expectancy was 78.5 years for the total population, including 75.6 years for men and 81.7 years for women.

Ethnic Groups: Ethnic Germans constitute 91.5 percent of the population. Turks, many of them guest workers and their children, constitute 2.4 percent of the population, and various others account for the remainder. Germany officially recognizes four ethnic minorities: the Danes, the Friesians, the Sinti and Roma, and the Sorbs. The Danish minority, which numbers about 50,000, lives primarily in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. The Friesians live along the North Sea coast. The approximately 70,000 Sinti and Roma live throughout Germany. Some 20,000 Lower Sorbs live in the state of Brandenburg, while some 40,000 Upper Sorbs live in the state of Saxony. The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities has protected these four groups since Germany ratified the Council of Europe convention in 1997.

Languages: German is the predominant language, but some Turkish immigrants speak their native language. In addition, the four officially recognized national minorities have their own languages: Danish, North and Sater Friesian, Romany, and Lower and Upper Sorbian. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages promotes the languages of the four national minorities.

Religion: Religious affiliation is as follows: Roman Catholics, 33 percent; Protestants, 33 percent; Muslims, 3 percent; and Jews, 0.1 percent. Roman Catholics are more numerous in southern Germany.

Education and Literacy: The literacy rate in Germany is officially pegged at 99 percent, where literacy is defined as the ability of those 15 years old or older to read and write. However, an interest group specializing in literacy estimates that 4 million Germans are functionally illiterate, meaning that they cannot read or write well enough to hold a job or support themselves. Many of them are immigrants. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests schoolchildren from all 30 OECD countries and 11 other nations every three years. According to the most recent results from 2003, German students scored about average in mathematics and reading and slightly above average in problem solving.

The federal government shares control over education with the states. However, the federal government has primary responsibility for the vocational training system. Kindergarten is available to every child between the ages of three and six. Everyone is required to attend school beginning at the end of their sixth year and must remain in some form of school or training for 12 years. Anyone who leaves school after nine years is required to complete a three-year vocational training program.

Primary school begins at age six and generally lasts for four years (six in Brandenburg and Berlin). Following primary school, the first stage of secondary general education begins. In the fifth and sixth grades, teachers evaluate pupils and recommend a path for their continuing education, but the parents’ wishes are taken into account.

There are four options for secondary school. One option is secondary general school. On completion, pupils receive a certificate that entitles them to attend a vocational training program. A second option is intermediate school, which provides more complete education during grades 5–10 and prepares pupils for a wider range of secondary education opportunities. A third option is college-preparatory high school, which lasts for nine years, including the upper stage, which normally extends from grade 11 through grade 13 and provides the most demanding and in-depth education available. In order to be admitted to a university, high-school students must take a rigorous exam called das Abitur that tests them on four to five subjects. However, holders of diplomas from vocational upper secondary schools and technical high schools also are eligible to attend a university. A fourth option is the comprehensive school, which combines several of the paths described above. Finally, special schools accommodate disabled or special-education students. About 70 percent of secondary-school graduates receive three years of vocational training, consisting of a combination of theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom and practical experience gained in the workplace as apprentices. This combination is known as the dual system. Others may attend academic vocational schools full-time for three years.

The alternative to some form of vocational training is university study. Most German universities are public and do not charge tuition to students pursuing a first degree on a timely basis. However, the introduction of limited fees is being discussed. A few relatively new private universities charge tuition, but they lag behind the public universities in research, the range of academic disciplines, and, arguably, public acceptance. Germany has more than 90 universities that award doctoral degrees and 190 technical colleges that specialize in such disciplines as engineering, information technology, and business administration but are not eligible to award doctorates. In 1998 a reform to the higher education system introduced a distinction between bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Many German universities suffer from overcrowding, and students sometimes have difficulty making steady progress toward their degrees. Some subjects, particularly medicine, are subject to limited enrollment. The percentage of Germans with university degrees (19.3 percent) is much lower than in the United States (33.2 percent), Britain (37.5 percent), Australia (36.3 percent), and Finland (36.3 percent).

Health: Germany does well in international health care comparisons. In 2004 Germany ranked thirtieth in the world in life expectancy (78 years), it had a very low infant mortality rate (4.7 per 1,000 live births), and it was tied for eighth place in the number of practicing physicians per 1,000 people (3.3). In 2001 total spending on health amounted to 10.8 percent of gross domestic product.

Germany has three mandatory health benefits, which are co-financed by employer and employee: health insurance, accident insurance, and long-term care insurance. The health care reform law that took effect on January 1, 2004, aimed at reducing health insurance costs and required payroll deductions. Costs were to be reduced by introducing more competition into the health care system and requiring higher co-payments by the insured. Related savings were estimated at US$12 billion in 2004 and US$26 billion in 2005. In conjunction with the cost reductions, payroll contributions were expected to decline below 14 percent in 2004 and below 13 percent in 2005.

In 2002 the top diagnosis for male patients released from the hospital was chronic heart disease, followed by alcohol-related disorders and hernias. For women, the top diagnoses related to pregnancies, breast cancer, and heart weakness. At the end of 2004, some 44,000 Germans, or less than 0.1 percent of the population, were infected with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). In the first half of 2005, German health authorities registered 1,164 new infections; about 60 percent of the cases involved homosexual men. Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, about 24,000 Germans have died from the disease. Widespread smoking also has a deleterious impact on health. According to a 2003 survey, 37 percent of adult males and 28 percent of adult females in Germany are smokers.

Welfare: Three non-health-related social benefits are pension insurance, unemployment insurance, and social assistance. Each of these long-entrenched and very generous benefits has been pared back modestly under the Agenda 2010 reform program, which takes into account Germany’s aging population and stubbornly high unemployment. New policies introduced in 2005 under a related initiative known as Hartz IV limit unemployment payments to 12 months in most cases. Those more than 55 years of age may receive support for 18 months. The unemployed face pressure to accept job opportunities presented to them. In 2003 the average pension in western Germany was US$1,188 for men and US$780 per month for women. In eastern Germany, the average pension was US$1,248 for men and US$1,005 for women. The current payroll deduction for pensions is 19.5 percent. This deduction is expected to rise, but it is capped at 20 percent until 2020 and 22 percent until 2030. The standard retirement age is 65, and early retirements are discouraged. Monetary and material social assistance is available for those who cannot support themselves. At the end of 2001, 2.7 million Germans received such assistance.

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This series of profiles of foreign nations is part of the Country Studies Program, formerly the Army Area Handbook Program. The profiles offer brief, summarized information on a country’s historical background, geography, society, economy, transportation and telecommunications, government and politics, and national security. In addition to being featured in the front matter of published Country Studies, they are now being prepared as stand-alone reference aides for all countries in the series, as well as for a number of additional countries of interest. The profiles offer reasonably current country information independent of the existence of a recently published Country Study and will be updated annually or more frequently as events warrant.