Official figures on Thursday showed Germany's population shrank for the seventh year in a row in 2009, defying Chancellor Angela Merkel's bid to boost the country's birth rate.
Parents and children in the southwest German city of Trier are taking part in a “Christmas Academy” to perfect their skills at singing carols, reading aloud and making a good impression at the yuletide feast.
Germany's incoming centre-right coalition partners the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Free Democrats (FDP) are planning a big increase in child benefits, daily <i>Frankfurter Rundschau</i> reported on Thursday.
A German couple killed their severely handicapped young son and then committed suicide because they could not accept their child's disability, investigators said Friday.
The global economic crisis is having a negative impact on German children, who have seen their allowances shrink this year, according to a new study published on Tuesday.
Germany's Ministry of Family Affairs accused EU statisticians on Tuesday of using inaccurate birth rate data in a new study that placed it dead last among European countries.
The case of a 13-year-old Brandenburg girl who had been locked up for years by her parents took a turn Wednesday after it came to light that authorities knew she had not attended school for at least four years.
German conservatives on Friday rejected German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries’ suggestion that gay couples should be allowed to adopt children. But gay rights advocates said current laws were contradictory.
Most parents would agree spending time outdoors is good for small kids, but would you send your child to a kindergarten deep in the forest? <b>Rhea Wessel</b> reports from the Taunus woods near Frankfurt.
Unions called a new round of strikes for some 2,000 public child care workers on Friday near Stuttgart, as a seventh round of wage negotiations with state employers has yet to achieve a breakthrough.
Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen urged a speedy solution to an ongoing labour dispute between public day care workers and state employers ahead of negotiations on Thursday, saying parents can’t handle any more strikes.
Children in Germany do not get equal opportunities for success in education, German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen told daily <i>Bild</i> on Monday, adding that the current system relies too much on family support.
Widespread day care strikes hit several German states on Tuesday, as pre-school teachers returned to the picket lines to press their ongoing labour dispute.
Striking public day care workers chose to continue putting pressure on state employers Friday for better wages and working conditions despite agreeing on a new date for negotiations.
An association of concerned German parents failed on Wednesday with an eleventh-hour attempt to stop the airing of a new reality TV show involving teenagers looking after other people's babies.
Public day care workers staged strikes across Germany for the sixth day in a row on Thursday after negotiations with state employers failed on Wednesday.
Public day care workers will likely continue their strikes after their unions refused a new offer from state employers during negotiations in Berlin on Wednesday.
German mothers with young children who work full-time are happier than those who are employed part-time or stay at home, research released Tuesday indicated.
An ongoing strike by day care workers expanded to states in eastern Germany for the first time on Tuesday in an attempt to increase pressure on public employers to provide better working conditions and wages.
German Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen has urged broadcaster RTL to stop the release of a controversial reality TV show in which teenagers will be filmed looking after babies “donated” to the programme.
Public day care centres remained closed in much of Germany on Tuesday as workers staged a third day of strikes to pressure state employers into better wage and health care benefits.
