The line graph illustrates the average number of children per family in three countries from 1980 to 2000, while the table shows the percentages of government spending on services and payments made to families in 2000.
Overall, the USA recorded the highest numbers of children per family over the period, while Spain and Germany exhibited declining trends. Interestingly, Germany spent relatively more money than the other two on childcare services and payments made to families.
Between 1980 and 1985, the number of children per family accounted for around 1.8 in the USA. This figure then rose significantly to 2.1 in 1990, before edging down to 2.0 in 1995, followed by a slight increase to 2.05 in the final year.
Spain and Germany, on the other hand, bucked the trend. The former started the period with 2.2, the highest point recorded in the chart. However, it fell sharply to 1.2 in 1995 and became the lowest among the three, despite rebounding by roughly 0.1 in 2000. Germany followed erratic fluctuations throughout, at about 1.4, before ending the period at 1.2.
The proportions of government spending on childcare services in Germany were modestly higher than Spain and the USA, at 0.8%, 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively. Likewise, Spain and the USA were not near as Germany in terms of payments to families, 0.25% and 0.2% as opposed to 2.0%.