Dear reader, when the first child is born, the world is turned upside down. But it is also the moment when, despite all emancipation, many couples fall into old role models: As a rule, it is the women who stay at home with the child until it goes to a childcare facility, and the growing proportion of young fathers who decide to take parental leave for a few months does not change this. Mothers often argue that "it doesn't matter if I work part-time and spend most of my salary on childcare, or if I stay at home and look after my child myself." Madeleine Brühl wrote in detail this week about the serious consequences of up to three years of parental leave on one's own retirement provision. And also played through a calculation example with the fictitious couple named Maria and Martin, both of whom earn as much as the German average. Conclusion of the example worth reading: With three years of parental leave, Maria is missing a whole 69,000 euros in retirement.

Felix Hooß

Editor responsible for the paywall at FAZ.NET.

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From young mothers to more mature men: Anyone who is fifty, sixty, seventy today not only feels physically, mentally and intellectually ten to fifteen years younger than their fathers or even grandfathers of the same age were – they actually are. This is due to better nutrition, better medicine, more exercise, longer holidays and less heavy physical work, all of which counteract wear and tear, writes Claudius Seidl in his much-read article on "Men in the Youth Trap". What exactly does this trap look like? Qualities that are attributed to age, such as experience, prudence, a sense of tradition and a certain skepticism towards the very latest fashion, seem to be in little demand anymore. "On the other hand, curiosity, risk-taking and a certain revolutionary impatience, which are actually hallmarks of youth, are to be demonstrated, perfected and preserved even after the fortieth birthday: because in this way, namely disruptive and in permanent change, the world is just in which one has to assert oneself," Seidl writes. As a result, the man was "condemned to youthfulness". You can read here why the concept of being young is no longer worth anything when everyone is and what all this has to do with "Fridays for Future".

In view of the announced end of oil and gas heating in the coming year, homeowners may wonder whether it is still worthwhile to install a new boiler now. The answer is: it depends. But one could at least try to calculate the whole thing a little, recommends Dennis Kremer in his text on this topic: "If you only look at the current costs, you might be tempted to continue to rely on gas heating. The installation of a heat pump is currently on average around three to five times more expensive than that of a gas heating system," Kremer calculates. How much time is left for the conversions, whether you can still get craftsmen at all and whether everything can turn out quite differently than expected, you can also find out in this article.

Next week, our editor Carsten Knop will be back here as usual. If you have any questions about your F+ subscription, please feel free to write to me at f.hooss@faz.de.

Regards

Your Felix Hooß
Editor responsible for the paywall
FAZ.NET