The numbers are alarming: one in five people in Germany does not have enough money for a one-week holiday trip, and single parents and households with children in particular often have to do without. For many, a break from everyday life is an unattainable luxury good, as the current figures from the EU statistics office Eurostat show (the star reported).
The definition of what a week’s vacation means may vary from person to person. But who can afford a trip on vacation and who can’t, threatens to become a class issue.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Family Minister Josefine Paul is alarmed – and calls for more help from politicians. “It’s frightening that every fifth person – and especially single parents – can’t even afford a week’s vacation a year,” she says to the star. Paul is part of the black-green government of NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). Especially after “years in crisis mode” families need “more support so that they can take a break.” Politicians must “focus on families and provide relief where possible,” says Paul. “As Minister for Family Affairs, it is important to me that families with low incomes in particular have the opportunity to relax and that children have a nice holiday season.”
Holiday trips for families within Germany are subsidized in several federal states. The options vary depending on the federal state. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, a subsidy of 30 euros is paid per overnight stay and family member for a maximum of 14 days, provided the eligibility requirements are met. North Rhine-Westphalia also promotes family vacations, a corresponding program (“Family Time NRW”) was endowed with 4.5 million euros this year and is intended to provide families with low incomes with financial support – be it with leisure activities, meals or travel costs. According to Düsseldorf, there are already more than 4,500 applications from interested families, and due to the high demand, the places for the summer holidays are already fully booked.
The fact that 21.9 percent of Germans now state that they cannot afford a week’s vacation is probably related to various factors. Although the Eurostat figures have fluctuated quite a bit in recent years, compared to 2021 (19.9 percent), there was a slight increase in those for whom a holiday is not financially possible.
High inflation is still burdening many households. The Federal Statistical Office has also determined that air tickets and package tours have become disproportionately expensive “in the course of rising prices overall”. According to this, the costs for international flights in the first half of 2023 rose by 24.9 percent compared to the same half of the previous year, and package tours within Germany (14.5 percent) and abroad (10 percent) also have to be digged deeper into the pocket compared to 2022. And there doesn’t seem to be any improvement in sight: DER Touristik, Europe’s second largest travel group after Tui, is assuming price increases in Europe “within the inflation corridor” of around five percent for the winter.
So travel has become more expensive. Or, conversely: even less affordable for households with low incomes. Andreas Audretsch, deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, therefore sees a more fundamental need for action.
The fact that one in five Germans cannot afford a one-week vacation makes “the great injustices in Germany visible,” says the budget politician to the star. “Poverty not only characterizes life during the holiday season, but all year round.”
According to Audretsch, good wages are “the best remedy” against poverty. The planned tariff loyalty law of the traffic light coalition is an important step in this respect, because it is intended to ensure more wages according to the tariff. In addition, the Green parliamentary group leader insists on basic child security, which he – like many top Greens – describes as “the central socio-political project” of the federal government. “Children of single parents, who make up the largest proportion of those who can hardly afford vacations, will benefit from this in particular.”
In fact, according to Eurostat, 42 percent of single people with children – far more than one in three of this group – state that they cannot afford a week’s vacation. Overall, households with children are more likely to hold back (23.4 percent) than households without children (20.7 percent).
However, neither the Collective Bargaining Act nor the basic child security mean short-term relief: While the Collective Bargaining Act is still being drafted by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), the government is struggling over the specific structure of the basic child security – which is to be paid out for the first time in 2025.
“We want all families to be able to find balance and time out on vacation,” says Leni Breymaier to the star. The spokeswoman for family policy for the SPD parliamentary group thinks that single parents in particular need opportunities to relax and take a deep breath from their strenuous everyday life. She refers to the so-called Federal Working Group on Family Recreation, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs.
This is an association of more than 80 non-profit family holiday resorts throughout Germany that pursue the self-declared goal of offering “holidays with children at affordable prices”. For example, the costs of the stay are tax-exempt, and price increases in the high season are generally avoided in the family businesses. Outside the holiday periods, the offer is also aimed at others, for example at groups of seniors or daycare and class trips. Depending on the federal state and income, there is also the possibility of receiving a subsidy.
But is that enough against the background of rising prices overall? Should the funds made available by the federal government for funding be increased?
“Basically, that would be welcome,” says SPD politician Breymaier. But in view of multiple crises and “two apparently holy cows – no tax increases and compliance with the debt brake”, an austerity budget had been presented for years. Best regards to the previous CDU government, but also to the coalition partner FDP and its finance minister, Christian Lindner. “I’m looking forward to the parliamentary deliberations,” says the family politician.
The budget still has to be approved by the Bundestag. So it remains exciting for families, who may be able to hope for further relief – at least for the next vacation.
