How Fair is Germany? Differences in Graphical Representation

Berlin. Living conditions in Germany are getting closer. However, there are still clear differences between metropolitan regions and sparsely populated areas. Together with Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) presented the first comprehensive report on equal living conditions in Germany on Wednesday. The ministries have collected 265 pages of data from all 400 districts and independent cities. According to Habeck, the result is fundamentally positive: “The development is no longer deviating, but is improving.”

The report examines living conditions in the regions in terms of economy, society, infrastructure and public services, but also in terms of climate and environment. In addition to survey data from the past ten years, the analysis is also based on 31,000 interviews about personal feelings.

Five facts from the report – and the personal assessments of the citizens.

Nationwide, average incomes have increased by 21 percent between 2014 and 2022 to an average of 3,482 euros. In sparsely populated areas, however, the value will only be 3,206 euros in 2022, while in the big cities it will have risen to almost 4,000 euros. The largest spatial differences are between East and West: with the exception of Berlin, the eastern German states are at the lower end of the average. But people also earn below average in the coastal areas of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, around Bremen, in the Bavarian border regions and in the south-west of the Palatinate.

Although incomes in sparsely populated areas have grown 5 percent more than in large cities, the average in sparsely populated areas is still below that of large cities a decade ago.

Rural areas continue to shrink

The structurally strong and central districts will continue to grow and will have more people living there until 2045. At the same time, the population in rural, border and structurally weak regions will shrink – in some cases by as much as 24 percent, such as in the Ore Mountains. Here too, the differences between the East and West German states are very pronounced: in the East, only the Berlin suburbs are growing, in the West, generally all regions around the major cities.

North-South divide: The South is less likely to need a minimum income

Those who receive financial support for living expenses have fewer opportunities to participate in social life. Although the middle income line is clearly drawn between East and West Germany, recipients of social assistance are concentrated in the big cities – while the share is significantly lower in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Overall, the share of recipients fell by 9.3 percent between 2012 and 2021.

How many minutes is it by car to the nearest doctor?

While city dwellers in Berlin, Leipzig and the Ruhr area need only four minutes by car to reach the nearest doctor, hospital or healthcare facility, the travel time in Freyung-Grafenau in Lower Bavaria, for example, quadruples to 16 minutes. Even in northern Germany, such as in the Uckermark or the Mecklenburg Lake District, the journey to the doctor takes a long time. As the report states, well-trained public services can have an impact on life expectancy if early detection measures are easier to implement. The importance of quickly accessible medical care is growing, especially with the increasing proportion of elderly people.

How often are children cared for?

In the eastern German states, an above-average number of children – up to 63 percent – ​​receive external care. In contrast, the care rates in the Bavarian border regions, but also on the coast and in the cities of the Ruhr area, are at the lower end of the scale, sometimes only 16 percent. According to the report, women in particular benefit from the expansion of the offer. At the same time, the national demand for care for children under the age of three is still significantly greater than the supply.

How do citizens experience living conditions?

Almost two-thirds of the 31,000 respondents are somewhat or completely satisfied with their current living situation. In sparsely populated and structurally weak areas, people assess career prospects worse. Only 17 percent of young people there assume that they can realize their education and study plans locally.

Transport connections and mobility are rated as good by only 44 percent, and only 38 percent consider the digital infrastructure to be good.

In short, for the people surveyed, good health and nursing insurance, affordable housing and safety from crime are crucial for living conditions that are experienced as equal.

The opposition sharply criticized the report. Thorsten Frei, first parliamentary director of the union faction, told the Editorial Network Germany (RND): “The equivalence report reads like a to-do list at a traffic light. Too few affordable homes, insufficient quality of schools, a blatant lack of childcare facilities for small children, poor local transport in rural areas – the complaints of many people are not only audible, they are also more than justified. When it comes to health care and nursing care, Germany is not the country where it should actually be in view of the high tax revenues.”