German children pick police officer or soldier as top job
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
More young Germans want to join the police and army and not the country’s big carmakers as they did before, a survey shows.
The country has embarked on a massive plan to expand its army, with ambitions to become Europe’s biggest military spender.
It followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the announcement by Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, that the plan was a watershed moment in Germany’s modern history.
According to an annual survey of almost 35,000 school-aged children, a job in the police or army came top, followed by one with local sports company Adidas and then BMW.
The findings mark a reversal in the longstanding trend among the youth of seeing their future with one of the country’s renowned auto firms.
Porsche, Tesla, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz all followed BMW in third place.
The survey, carried out by the Trendence Institute, a market research company, found that girls were most keen to join the police, at just over 15 per cent, while boys preferred the army, or Bundeswehr, at 11 per cent.
It comes as young people move towards the far-Right of politics, with the Alternative for Germany now the most popular party among 14- to 29-year-olds.
The party has called for “reinstating troop readiness”, compulsory military service and the strengthening of European influence within Nato.
Polls show 22 per cent of young Germans would vote for the party at the next election, a drastic change from the last German federal election when the Greens were the most popular among first-time voters, and only 9 per cent admitted wanting to vote for the far-Right.
In eastern states like Saxony and Thuringia, where migration has become a big political issue, the party is expected to come in first place in state elections later this year.
“Young people in Germany are more pessimistic,” said Klaus Hurrelmann, a senior professor of public health and education at the Hertie School for governance in Berlin.
Speaking after the publication of the school’s 2024 survey of 14- to 29 year-olds, he said: “Almost two years after the end of the Covid pandemic, young people are still concerned about their health and economic situation in the present and future. As a result, Right-wing parties such as the AfD are finding more favour among the young people surveyed.”
