9.400 Children born less

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In the past year, 778 people in Germany have been.100 babies born. That was about 9.400 girls and boys less than in the previous year, as the Federal Statistical Office announced in Wiesbaden on Monday.

According to the study, if the number of births is put in relation to the number of inhabitants, there were mathematically 9.4 newborns per 1.000 inhabitants. In the previous year, this ratio had been 9.5 children per 1.000 inhabitants slightly higher.

The births were offset by 939.500 deaths compared to. This meant that 161 died.400 more people than children were born. In 2018, the difference was 167.400 still somewhat larger. That there are more deaths than births in Germany is a long-term demographic trend that has continued since 1972. Compared to 2018, when the figures had been affected by a strong flu epidemic, around 1.6 percent fewer people died in 2019 (2018: 954.900).

Germany in EU comparison

According to the statistics, Germany was slightly above the EU average in terms of births and deaths in 2019. With 9.4 births per 1.000 inhabitants, slightly more children were born in Germany than the EU average of 9.3 children. In terms of deaths, EU member states averaged 10.4 deaths per 1.000 inhabitants, in Germany the figure was 11.3. The highest number of deaths occurred in Bulgaria (15.5), the lowest in Ireland (6.3). The EU average is reportedly preliminary, the figure for Ireland estimated.

The number of marriages also declined in 2019, with a total of 416.300 marriages in Germany. In 402.300 cases, a man and a woman married, with about 14.000 same-sex couples got married.

View of the marriages

Thus, the number of marriages decreased by 7.4 percent overall compared to 2018 (2018: 449.500). 2018, a particularly large number of marriages had been counted, partly as a result of the introduction of "marriage for all" in October 2017. The 2018 results also include marriages between people of the same sex that took place between October and December 2017. In addition, conversions of registered civil partnerships into marriages are also included in the figures.

Overall, the number of same-sex marriages fell by about a third in 2019 (2018: 32.800). If the special effects are excluded and only the same-sex marriages without conversions are considered, then in 2019, with 9.200 marriages, only 0.7 percent fewer than in 2018 (9.300), as it was called. The number of marriages between men and women had also risen again in 2018, reaching its highest level since 2001 (2018: 416.600). In 2019, it decreased by 3.4 percent.

The Catholic Church in Germany wants to keep its hotline for abuse victims open longer than previously planned. The number should not be switched off in September, but continue to exist until April 2012, said a spokesman for the German Bishops' Conference in Bonn on Monday.

With the extension of the hotline the conversation offer between church and victims is to be kept further open, so Matthias Kopp. The nationwide free telephone hotline for victims of sexual abuse was set up at the end of March 2010. It is run by the Life Counseling Service in the Diocese of Trier on behalf of the German Bishops' Conference and is staffed by psychologists and social workers. So far, according to the bishops' conference, there have been 6.702 conversations. Most of those affected described incidents from the years 1950 to 1980. Most recently, the number of calls had dropped sharply, to over 50 last week. Initially, there were more than 400 calls per week. The callers' interest has recently been directed primarily toward therapy offers, counseling and the question of compensation.

The Catholic Church had asked for compensation of around 5.000 euros for victims of sexual abuse, which is to be paid out in recognition of the suffering they have endured. The magazine "Der Spiegel" reported in its current ie on Monday that the compensation practices of Catholic religious orders in particular are increasingly meeting with criticism from victims of abuse. In various cases, for example, considerably less than 5.000 euros had been paid, without giving any reasons for this. According to Kopp, the "Central Coordination Office" of the Bishops' Conference has so far received 670 applications for compensation. 650 were edited. Dioceses and religious orders are not bound by the recommendations of the coordinating body.

Catholic military chaplaincy calls for more equal opportunities for women in the Bundeswehr. The same opportunities for advancement must be open to them as to men in all military areas.

Catholic military vicar general Reinhold Bartmann said Thursday in Berlin. Among the 180.000 members of the German armed forces, according to his figures, are currently a good 20.000 women, 40 percent of whom are in the medical service. Bartmann spoke at a conference titled "On the Way to Becoming an Inspector General?"

Pronounced skepticism

The military vicar general acknowledged that in the armed forces "the skepticism of men toward female superiors is still pronounced". The performance of female soldiers is being questioned; according to a study, one in two of them experiences sexual harassment. With regard to equal opportunities for women, the Bundeswehr can learn from the experience of other armed forces, Bartmann emphasized.

Hans-Peter Bartels (SPD), the Bundestag's defense commissioner, also called for women to be "nothing exotic and no ornament" in the Bundeswehr. Without women, the volunteer army could not achieve its goals. Bartels regretted that more women than men give up their service in the Bundeswehr prematurely. This, he said, is also due to deficiencies in reconciling work and family life. Fathers among the soldiers would also benefit from more childcare offerings.

Mission statement calls for respect

Former Bundeswehr Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan emphasized the importance of "Innere Fuhrung" in the way men and women interact in the armed forces. This mission statement demands respect for human dignity and civil rights even in service. The commander of the Bundeswehr's Center for Internal Leadership, Major General Reinhardt Zudrop, explained that the Basic Law obliges the Bundeswehr to provide equal opportunities for all people, not just women.

The symposium was organized by the Center for Ethical Education in the Armed Forces, which maintains the Catholic military chaplaincy, as well as the Center for Innere Fuhrung and the Commissioner for the Armed Forces.

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