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SOCIETY
New forms of cohabitation, such as in same-sex partnerships, are accepted
75 percent of Germans consider family al-
cared for by one of 44,000 child minders.
lowance to be a good arrangement; almost
The number of nursery places for under-
all parents take advantage of the benefit.
threes has more than doubled since 2006.
However, four out of five fathers only take
the minimum period of two months off. It
Parental leave, family allowance, and im-
continues to be primarily mothers who stay
proved overall conditions for day-care for
at home for a longer period after having
babies and pre-schoolers continue to create
children. The Elterngeld Plus family allow-
the preconditions for the equal treatment of
ance scheme launched in 2015 makes re-
women as laid down in the Basic Law.
turning to work early on even more worth-
Whereas in the education sector young
while: Parents who work part-time receive
women have not only caught up with, but in
financial support for up to 28 months.
part overtaken young men (in 2014 54.4 percent of those attained a university entrance
The number of nursery places for
qualification were women, 48.7 percent of
under-threes has more than doubled
new students in 2014/15 were women), there
are still differences between the sexes as re-
Since 1 August 2013 children have had a
gards pay and career paths: On average
legal right to a nursery place upon reaching
women working full-time only earn around
the age of one. Today every third child un-
78 percent of the salary of their male coun-
der three (694,500 children in 2015) attends
terparts. They also continue to be under-
one of the 54,000 day-care facilities or is
represented in managerial roles. According