[3] During the postwar period, a number of researchers found that (despite years of rising affluence) many West Germans continued to live in poverty.
In 1972, a study by the SPES estimated that between 1 and 1.5 million people (more than 2% of the population) were living below the state's poverty line.
In 1975, a report on poverty published by a CDU politician called Heiner Geissler estimated that 5.8 million people lived below the public assistance levels.
As the opening sentence of the report put it, "Poverty, a theme long since thought dead, is an oppressive reality for millions of people."
This is evident in statistics highlighting the lifestyle of this demographic, revealing higher rates of smoking, lack of proper hygiene and nutrition, and lower levels of exercise.
Consequently, they face an elevated risk of conditions such as lung cancer, hypertension, heart attacks, diabetes, malnutrition, and various other illnesses.
They are more likely to have multiple young siblings, are more likely to be raised in crime-ridden neighbourhoods and more likely to live in substandard apartments which are often overcrowded.
[17] Poor children are more likely to get involved in criminal activities such as forming gangs, committing murder, and they are also more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.
[22] A change in welfare laws, which made it impossible to receive unemployment benefits if one had not worked for a long time, was accountable for that increase.