The proportion of women in the 21st Bundestag has fallen. Diversity? Representativeness? Nowhere to be found!

An article by Kathrin Mahler Walther and Dr. Helga Lukoschat.

The day after the federal election, a photo of a breakfast at the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus began circulating. Six men in the second half of their lives were beaming at the camera. Here we see the new political leadership of the republic. What’s missing? Women, obviously—that’s the first thing that catches the eye. But younger faces are missing, too. We also suspect that no one in the group has a migration background. This list could go on. The image is reminiscent of the photo of the leadership team at the Ministry of the Interior presented by Horst Seehofer in 2018. Since then, at least a little more gender diversity has found its way into the country's top political positions.

And now this? A clear step backward.

What is the state of diversity in the 21st Bundestag?

204 of the 630 members of the Bundestag are women, which corresponds to a share of 32.4 percent—a decline of 2.9 percentage points compared to the previous Bundestag. Women are more likely to enter the Bundestag via party lists than through direct mandates: 10 percent of the seats in the Bundestag are held by women elected via direct mandates, while 23 percent of the seats were secured by women via a spot on their party's state lists.

A significant representation gap is also evident when looking at other dimensions of diversity. For instance, the share of younger people under 35 is 16.2 percent, which is significantly lower than their 36.5 percent share of the population. The situation is similar when we look for representatives with a migration background—their share in the Bundestag is 11.6 percent compared to 29.7 percent in the population, with only 14.4 percent being eligible to vote. Among the professional backgrounds of the representatives, there is a strong dominance of legal and administrative professions at just under 80 percent. Statistical data for other dimensions of diversity are not yet available.

Why is diversity in the Bundestag a relevant issue?

Representative democracy is based on the principle that, in total, the spectrum of the population's concerns and perspectives is represented by its members of parliament. According to Article 38 of the Basic Law, they represent "the whole people." But is this the case when certain population groups remain significantly underrepresented in parliament over a long period? A diversity problem is therefore always a representation problem as well. It weakens democracy, because democracy is only as strong as the diversity of the voices represented within it.

What are the causes of the low proportion of women in the 21st Bundestag?

Unfortunately, the new Bundestag shows that the more conservative the parliament, the fewer women are represented. The two strongest parliamentary groups have the lowest proportion of women: only 23 percent for the CDU/CSU and 12 percent for the AfD. For the SPD, the figure is 42 percent, while for the Left Party and the Greens, it is over 50 percent. With an average age of 42, these two parties also have the youngest representatives, while the AfD has the highest at just under 51 years, and the CSU is at 48 years.

What are the effects of the electoral law reform?

There is no conclusive research on this yet. A look at the elimination of overhang and leveling seats in the 21st Bundestag is revealing: 23 direct candidates will not enter the Bundestag due to the new electoral law, even though they received the most first-preference votes in their constituencies. This affects 8 women and 15 men. Since these are predominantly candidates from the CDU, CSU, and AfD, the entry of these direct candidates would have led to leveling seats, particularly for the Greens, the Left Party, and the SPD. These three parties fill their electoral lists using a gender quota based on the "zipper" system, so a 50:50 gender distribution could have been achieved with the leveling seats. Presumably, this would have slightly increased the proportion of women in the Bundestag.

An important factor is likely that men were nominated in constituencies considered "safe" for their parties, while women ran in those considered less promising. This follows a pattern we have observed repeatedly in recent years, most recently and clearly in the repeat election for the Berlin House of Representatives (both for the CDU and the SPD). At the same time, it can be assumed that due to the electoral reform, especially within the CDU/CSU, men were additionally secured on promising list positions in constituencies, further reducing the chances for women to enter the Bundestag via the party list.

Why is it important at all for women to be more strongly represented in the Bundestag?

Equal opportunity is a concern relevant to all genders, and men are committed to it as well. But unfortunately, not yet to the same extent as women. This is partly because the disadvantages of the traditional gender ratio weigh heavily on women. Just look at the various gender gaps in income, the distribution of care work, pensions, and even the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, not to mention the experience of sexism and violence. All studies show that gender equality is a higher priority for women than for men.

That is why it is so important that the perspectives of women—in all their diversity—are represented in politics, and in proportion to their share of the population. This is also necessary so that the lived realities, issues, and concerns of women are visible and successfully advocated for in political decision-making. Multiple times in the history of the Federal Republic, important decisions have been achieved through cross-party women's alliances, including the reform of Section 218, the ban on marital rape, the law on gender quotas in leadership positions, and, in the last legislative period, the Violence Protection Act. The decriminalization of abortion has failed, even though it was recommended by two independent commissions and is supported by a majority of the population. The draft law failed in the Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee due to the votes of the conservative parties with very low proportions of women: the FDP and the CDU.

What keeps women from entering politics?

A major factor is the lower amount of time and material resources that women have compared to men. Political engagement usually begins at the local level as volunteer work. It is time-consuming and costly, and for women, combining it with a career and family often feels like a triple balancing act. The proportion of women at the local level is, on average, even lower than in the Bundestag, at 30 percent.

But beyond these well-known structural problems of work-life balance and gender stereotypes, the focus is increasingly on the still male-dominated manners and communication cultures within parties, especially when it comes to political careers at the state and federal levels. Women experience everyday sexism that manifests in more or less subtle forms: for example, women's contributions are ignored or taken less seriously, and they often find no access to male-dominated networks. Female politicians are pigeonholed into specific topics or tasks or instrumentalized as "token women" without any real change in the structures. Furthermore, 40 percent of female politicians have already experienced sexual harassment, and for the generation under 45, that figure is one-third higher. The increase in sexist and extremely hurtful hate speech against female politicians on social media also takes a toll on women and tends to have a negative impact on their willingness to engage in politics in the future. Consequently, in addition to the substantive political debates, women are forced to a high degree to assert themselves.

What needs to change?

Because so many factors are at play, it is crucial to adopt a holistic approach. This includes internal party measures such as guidelines for recruiting new members and fostering an inclusive culture, scheduling meetings that are time-efficient and family-friendly, and even a willingness to nominate non-party members. Reforms are particularly necessary at the local level to make honorary positions more attractive, especially for younger people, women, and those with active family responsibilities. The package of measures should include the discussion and adoption of a code of conduct to combat discrimination and sexism at all party levels, including protection and counseling regarding hate speech, particularly in local politics. Binding 50-percent quotas for party offices and mandates remain an important instrument. However, a parity law that ensures all parties represent genders in proportion to their share of the population remains a desirable goal. Concrete proposals for implementation were already developed by renowned legal experts during the last legislative period.

Ultimately, it remains a central task of politics to overcome gender stereotypes and structural inequalities, in accordance with the mandate of Article 3 of the Basic Law.

What are the prospects for gender equality?

The decline in the proportion of women in the Bundestag makes it clear that equality does not happen automatically. The goal of equal opportunity must therefore be pursued consistently. However, the election scorecards of various organizations, including the German Women's Council, have shown that gender equality demands played almost no role in the election manifestos of the CDU and CSU. Equality is therefore at risk of receiving too little attention in the new government. The situation is even worse among parts of the opposition: the AfD wants to abolish all institutions and initiatives promoting equal opportunity and remove the goal from the political agenda.

Equal opportunity and anti-discrimination must therefore be a priority in coalition negotiations and anchored as a cross-cutting task for all ministries. This is now an urgent task for the SPD, whose election manifesto contains numerous demands for gender equality. But open-minded politicians from the CDU/CSU are also called upon to advocate for this in the coalition negotiations.

Furthermore, the democratic parties in the Bundestag should stand together to preserve important achievements in equality policy, such as the Self-Determination Act, and consistently pursue further goals, such as the decriminalization of abortion and a parity law, by advancing them through cross-party initiatives. Especially in times of crisis, it is essential to secure the rights of women and disadvantaged groups and to strengthen their resources for genuine participation.

The authors:

Kathrin Mahler Walther is the Executive Chair of EAF Berlin and advises organizations on promoting diversity and equal opportunity. She has conducted various studies for EAF Berlin on leadership in politics, business, and science, most recently the 2024 study on the “Engagement of women in local politics in Saxony” commissioned by the Saxon State Ministry of Justice and for Democracy, Europe and Gender Equality. Born in Leipzig, she was involved in the Peaceful Revolution in the 1980s and subsequently served in the first Saxon State Parliament. For her commitment, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Dr. Helga Lukoschat is the Deputy Chair of the Board and Senior Advisor at EAF Berlin. She has extensive experience in advising companies and organizations, designing and implementing practice-oriented research projects, and strategically managing programs and collaborative projects in both the business and political sectors. She has published numerous works, for example on party cultures and the political participation of women, and is frequently sought after as an expert, moderator, and speaker. A key focus of her work is international projects promoting the political and social participation of women.