Historically, researchers and policymakers alike recognized the risk of poverty among large families, but family size is often neglected in the contemporary literature. This article revives an examination of the connections between family size and poverty risk for children with a focus on Germany. We take a child-centered perspective by analyzing a sample of 13–14 year-old children from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). First, we provide a detailed overview of the welfare and tax policies aimed at large families in Germany. Next, we estimate the poverty risk and prevalence for children in large families (looking at families with 3+ and 4+ children). Finally, we discuss how the policy and socio-economic context interacts with the risk of poverty. We identify that the means-tested social assistance scheme penalizes large families, while the child benefit would only acknowledge higher need of middle-income families with three or more children.

中文翻译：

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德国大家庭的处境如何：审视儿童贫困风险和政策解决方案

从历史上看，研究人员和政策制定者都认识到大家庭的贫困风险，但当代文献中经常忽视家庭规模。本文重新审视了家庭规模与儿童贫困风险之间的关系，重点关注德国。我们采取以儿童为中心的视角，分析了国家教育小组研究 (NEPS) 中 13-14 岁儿童的样本。首先，我们详细概述了德国针对大家庭的福利和税收政策。接下来，我们估计大家庭中儿童的贫困风险和患病率（着眼于有 3 个以上和 4 个以上儿童的家庭）。最后，我们讨论政策和社会经济背景如何与贫困风险相互作用。我们发现，经过经济情况调查的社会援助计划对大家庭不利，而儿童福利只会承认有三个或更多孩子的中等收入家庭的更高需求。