{
  "id": 665761,
  "title": "Reform plans: Cabinet: No more alcohol for 14-year-olds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/reformplane-kabinett-kein-alkohol-mehr-fur-14-jahrige",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-12T12:56:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/reformplaene-kabinett-kein-alkohol-mehr-fuer-14-jaehrige/100246750.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "In future, a strict age limit of 16 years is to apply to the consumption and purchase of beer, wine and sparkling wine. The federal cabinet approved plans by Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) to abolish the \"accompanied drinking\" of 14- and 15-year-olds under parental supervision. This is part of a reform of child and youth welfare, which is intended to reorganize responsibilities and reduce costs amounting to billions. This affects, among other things, assistance for children and young people with disabilities in schools. Social associations fear setbacks.\n\nThe abolition of \"accompanied drinking\" has little to do with the structural reform in terms of content, but was included in the draft law by Prien, which is now being submitted to the Bundestag. It states: \"The exception regulation in the Youth Protection Act, which allows 14- and 15-year-old young people to consume or purchase alcoholic beverages in the company of a person responsible for their welfare, is to be deleted.\" The goal is to better protect young people from health risks caused by alcohol. In a Forsa survey commissioned by the Commercial Health Insurance Company, just under two-thirds of adults supported this in 2025.\n\nSystem \"to be set up for the future\"\n\nThe entire draft law, which is 56 pages long, has a more comprehensive goal: as the first part of a structural reform, the plans are intended to help set up child and youth welfare as a whole \"to be future-proof\", as the Family Ministry emphasizes. \"Assistance should reach families more quickly and precisely, municipal structures should be strengthened, and unnecessary bureaucracy should be reduced.\" This affects many points, from accommodation in foster families to simplified age determination for unaccompanied foreign minors.\n\nHowever, the changes for children and young people with disabilities have caused the most concern. If they need help, they are entitled to assistance in daycare or school.\n\nAccording to the current draft, this is to be provided as \"group offers\" for several children and young people whenever possible. If such an \"infrastructural offer\" is not available locally, \"an individual claim to guidance and accompaniment\" as individual case assistance continues to exist. The formulation was reworded compared to an earlier draft because experts had reservations. \"We see the possibility of organizing school assistance more jointly for several children as particularly critical,\" said Michaela Engelmeier from the German Social Association to the German Press Agency. \"For some children, joint use of assistance can work.\" However, this does not apply to children with more complex disabilities.\n\nThe Parity Welfare Association expressed disappointment with the reform draft: \"In the end, a administrative logic that thinks in files and responsibilities and passes by the reality of life remains.\" The idea of inclusive child and youth welfare is completely given up, the association criticizes.\n\nBillions in costs in the system\n\nFamily Minister Prien emphasized that the individual legal claim to needs-based assistance remains \"unrestricted\". However, the CDU politician also explained that families must continue to be able to rely on assistance in the future. \"For this, we need a support and protection system that is efficient, reliable and at the same time affordable.\"\n\nAccording to the Federal Statistical Office, the total costs for child and youth welfare have recently increased significantly. In 2024, the federal government, states and municipalities spent 78.8 billion euros on this. Assistance for disabled children and young people is only a small part of this. Two-thirds of the costs are accounted for by childcare, and a further quarter by assistance for upbringing, including the accommodation of young people in homes, shared flats or foster families.\n\nPrien's reform is expected to save around 149 million euros per year from 2028. The expected amount increases to 1.3 billion euros per year by 2036. The declared aim is to make the entire system simpler, more effective and more transparent.\n\nSome examples: municipalities are to be enabled to organize assistance for young people with disabilities through a central contact person. The procedure for the distribution of unaccompanied foreign minors and for age determination is to be simplified. Families who need support are to use easily accessible offers first before educational assistance takes effect. Offers such as parent courses, counseling centers or family vacations are to be strengthened.",
  "summary": "Family Minister Prien wants to reorganize child and youth welfare. The goal: simpler processes, lower costs. As an appendix, the reform contains a clause on \"supervised drinking\".",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}