1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Middle EastUS election Ukraine
SocietyGermany

Poverty in Germany

October 12, 2022

Amid soaring inflation, particularly when it comes to food and energy, the gap between rich and poor in Germany is widening. Incremental increases to social safety nets will do little to alleviate the problem.

https://p.dw.com/p/4I4ug
A person looks into a wallet containing two bills totaling 15 euros, as a child looks on
Image: Ute Grabowsky/photothek/picture alliance
Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

A building and a sign of a man walking down the stairs

Germany's middle classes hit by cost-of-living crisis

There are fears the cost-of-living crisis could shake the foundation of German society: The middle class.
SocietyOctober 12, 2022
Produce is handed out at a Berlin food bank

Increased poverty stretches German food banks to the limit

About half of Germany's food banks have seen their number of clients double since last year.
SocietyOctober 18, 2022
Writer Olivier David

How poverty can impair mental well-being

Olivier David grew up in poverty. Only later did he realize his early life might be behind his anger and depression.
SocietyOctober 20, 202202:13 min
Woman lecturing in seminar hall at a university Germany

Students in Germany on the poverty line

One in three students in Germany lives below the poverty line, and state subsidies are no longer enough.
SocietyOctober 20, 2022
A man sleeping on a piece of cardboard in front of a large glass shop window. He is in the German capital - Berlin - in suburb of Charlottenburg.

Germany: What poverty looks like in a rich country

Amid soaring inflation, particularly for food and energy, the gap between rich and poor in Germany is widening.
SocietyOctober 10, 2022
A person speaking on a telephone seen behind the bars of a prision

How German prisons have become a debt trap

Inflation is making life particularly tough for prisoners in Germany, making them more likely to re-offend.
SocietyOctober 13, 2022
Children in Gelsenkirchen take part in a special pilot project

Providing education for children in need

A project in Gelsenkirchen is providing fairer educational opportunities for children in poverty.
SocietyOctober 13, 2022
Several people holding trolleys and bags pick up food donations from a group of tables

Cologne priest fights the poverty crisis

From the basement of his church, Franz Meurer is helping the rising number of people living in poverty in Germany.
SocietyOctober 11, 2022