BERLIN, July 6 (UPI) -- Poverty is on a dramatic rise in Germany, with one in 12 Germans living below the poverty line, a non-governmental organization has said.
"We now have a level of poverty in Germany unprecedented in recent German history," said Barbara Stolterfoht, president of the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband, a health-care NGO, the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported.
Every twelfth German citizen lives below the poverty line, and so does every fourth child in the financially troubled eastern parts of Germany, Stolterfoht said Tuesday in Berlin.
She called on the major political parties to step up the fight against poverty by increasing social and unemployment benefits.
The biggest problem in Germany, apart from the struggling economy, is what Stolterfoht called a "crisis of social peace" -- a lack of respect for poor people and increasing apathy about the growing rift between rich and poor.
