🗳 🇩🇪 🐣 The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party advocates for a "demographic turnaround" through financial incentives for larger families and strict opposition to abortion, rejecting immigration as a remedy for population decline.

The strong “Erinnerungskultur” (culture of remembrance) in Germany, which involves confronting and acknowledging the crimes of the National Socialist era, means the AfD have been keen to distance themselves from any historical comparisons. As a result, they’ve been cautious, but clear, in how they market their views on promoting the native German birthrate. Their manifesto calls for a “demographic turnaround” they claim will transmit German culture and stabilise the country’s social systems. Although they’ve refrained from setting explicit numerical targets this election cycle, previous campaigns promoted the three-child family as the optimal means of addressing what they refer to as a “birth deficit”. The party’s financial proposals to encourage larger families—including tax credits and pension contributions—remain loosely defined.

Slightly less openly publicised is their corresponding stance on abortion. They argue financial support for couples will reduce what they feel is an excessively high abortion rate. Interestingly, according to World Population Review, the abortion rate in Germany was 5.4 per 1,000 women in 2024. Only 12 of the 151 countries included in the list had lower abortion rates.

However, their proposed policies in this area also remain vague. While stopping short of explicitly calling for an outright ban, the AfD has advocated stringent restrictions and pushed to end the recognition of abortion as a human right, or its support by the state. Evidence from the Guttmacher Institute shows it’s when women have access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, increased education and greater gender equality that abortion rates fall.

The baby bust

Population decline may be among the reasons behind the AfD's popularity. According to sociologist Katja Salomo, "Research shows that electoral support for far-right parties, including the AfD, tends to be higher in the regions most affected by population decline."

In 2023, domestic intelligence found that the AfD's Saxony-Anhalt branch was permeated by a "racist ideology" in violation of the German constitution which guarantees "human dignity" for all.

In its manifesto, the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt argues that immigration is an, "Unsuitable remedy for the extinction of the local population." Instead, it wants to incentivise larger families by, for example, handing out baby bonus payments to parents.

https://populationmatters.org/news/2025/02/the-afd-how-it-could-reshape-german-family-policy-and-climate-action/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24ylyv40y5o