2025 Children's Rights Index Reveals Significant Regional Disparities Across Germany

The 2025 Children's Rights Index highlights stark regional inequalities in the implementation of children's rights across German federal states. The index evaluates how well states uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, looking at factors such as early childhood education funding, availability of pediatricians, and children's participation in local decision-making. According to the Children's Aid Organization, no German state fully ensures comprehensive children's rights.

Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia rank relatively well, while Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, and Saxony have average scores. In contrast, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, and Saxony-Anhalt fall below average. Anne Lütkes, Vice President of the Children's Aid Organization, criticized this uneven landscape, stating it leads to unequal living conditions for children, particularly in early education, participation rights, healthcare services, youth work, and child protection systems.

Lütkes stressed that these disparities stem from political will rather than financial constraints and called for nationwide, cross-sector strategies with clear responsibilities and binding targets from both federal and state governments. The organization recommends actively involving children and youth in decisions affecting them, enhancing education and support for refugee and psychosocially vulnerable children, and introducing comprehensive, comparable nationwide monitoring supported by relevant indicators to address data gaps. This new index underscores the urgent need for coordinated political commitment to equalize children's rights and living conditions across all German regions.