Mrs. Tilton at A Fistful of Euros has written a great post on the proposed end to conscription in Germany. Best of all, she called Renate Schmidt "Minister for Puppies and Sad-Eyed Children (or something like that)." Hi-larious.
But really: the end of Wehrdienst and, with it, Zivildienst, could spell a real problem for social services in Germany. Mrs. T. points out that the country's dependence on the cheap labor in the Kindergarten and Pflegeheim sector provided by Zivis has kept military conscription in place, not as you (I) might have expected, the other way around. Huh.
I bet it will also pose a problem by eliminating that year or so of time "off" before kids go into Ausbildungsplätze--themselves few and far between anymore. The Süddeutsche reports that in 2003 there were 231.000 high school graduates and 83.500 open Lehrstellen for them to fill. I assume that some of this slack is taken up each year, or at least delayed, by people doing their Zivi or Bundi stint.
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