According to the Council of Europe, Germany must do much more to combat poverty, housing shortages and the marginalization of people with disabilities.
The high level of poverty and social disadvantage in Germany is disproportionate to the country's wealth, according to a report published by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
Even though Berlin has taken welcome steps towards an accessible social system, further efforts are needed to combat growing inequality. This is because social rights are not always seen as a legally binding obligation in Germany, but are dependent on resources.
Poverty is a major problem, especially for children, senior citizens and people with disabilities. The report states that decisive steps are needed to break the cycle of child poverty.
Children's rights also need to be strengthened and coordinated by a central authority, the report said, because otherwise the needs of children and young people would be overlooked in political decisions - as it happened during the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, the high poverty rate among senior citizens must be tackled, the report said.
Germany's Act on Equal Treatment also needs to be significantly improved in order to limit discrimination. According to the report, particular attention should be paid to growing racism, which has the potential to undermine social cohesion and destabilize democratic institutions.
The Council of Europe was founded in 1949 to protect democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe. It is independent of the European Union. It is made up of 46 European states. The council's experts visited Germany in November last year.