Young People's Experiences in the Transition to Independence in Hamburg

Hamburg, as many European cities, has a growing population of young people with a family history of immigration. This group is structurally disadvantaged in the education system and on a labour market which increasingly focuses on grades and official qualifications. Above that, an unemployed benefit system which has a strong orientation towards employability is particularly difficult for them.

New overarching structures like a Youth Employment Agency target at this group and although they are rated positive by different actors across the city, they are neither able to avert structural discrimination of the education system nor do they create reliable training- and workplaces.

This paper investigates on the perceived inequalities of young people and their coping strategies which they develop after sustainable structures on local level tend to vanish during last year’s massive budget cuts. A clear gap between innovative structures like the Youth Employment Agency and its compatibility with the demand of young people to personal, individual and sustainable support in their direct environment/neighbourhood can be detected.

This paper refers to the material gathered throughout the FP7 project CITISPYCE where 45 young people in transition between school and work living in deprived areas in the highly segregated City of Hamburg were interviewed. While a strong orientation towards education could be seen there is also a turn towards traditional patterns of support like families and ethnic/faith based communities. Above that, missing structures also nourish new forms of interaction like the use of new social media and other forms of innovative communication.