Wilhelmshaven: People and youth poverty endangers the future!

Wilhelmshaven: People and youth poverty endangers the future!

Wilhelmshaven, Deutschland - Wilhelmshaven does not have it easy. The new Parthaben-atlas the worst participation chances for children and adolescents throughout Germany. A high level of child poverty and rising youth unemployment throw a shadow on the future prospects for the young residents. In view of the extensive data analysis of 400 circles and independent cities by the Berlin Institute for the Population and Development together with the German Children's and Youth Foundation and the Wüstenrot Foundation, it becomes clear how urgent the situation is.

The analysis looks at a variety of factors that influence participation, such as the proportion of children and adolescents affected by poverty, as well as the school leaver quota without the first school leaving certificate. In Wilhelmshaven, worrying 27.7 % of those under 15 are affected by SGB II. The number of young people under the age of 25 is less gratifying, 6.8 % of whom are unemployed. After all, 7 % of the students end their school career without a secondary school leaving certificate. In such a climate, it will be difficult for children and adolescents to pursue their dreams and ambitions.

Availability of facilities and important recommendations

But not everything is dreary in Wilhelmshaven. A ray of hope: The accessibility of important facilities such as primary schools or pediatricians is consistently good, with an index value of 31.14, which makes the city advantageous compared to the nationwide value of 3.81. Nevertheless, there is a clear need for action. The research team suggests investing in education and creating a variety of leisure activities in order to offer young people a wider range of opportunities. Also an improvement in public transport as well as the foot and bike paths is considered necessary to promote and ensure participation.

considered particularly important, the creation of leisure clubs, where children and young people can bring their ideas and actively participate in the design of their surroundings. participatedhabeatlas.org emphasizes that such participations not only ensure more self -efficacy, but also enable real participation. There are positive examples in other cities where young people were able to have a say in the space for their leisure activities, but in Wilhelmshaven this form of participation often remains an unfulfilled wish. Access to such forms of participation is not yet equivalent to all young people.

inclusiveness and serious participation

A central element that comes to speech in the analysis of participabeatlas.org is the need for inclusive and diverse approaches. Girls and boys are the experts on their own behalf and have valuable ideas to improve their living conditions. However, there are often social barriers and prejudices in the way that make it difficult to find less committed young people. The participation must be diverse, so that the different origins and needs of children and adolescents are taken into account.

The future of Wilhelmshaven's young people depends on how seriously their voices are taken and what framework conditions are created to offer them strong opportunities for participation. So there is still a lot to improve the life situation for children and adolescents and promote their strengths. Together, progress can be made that could change both the cityscape and the life of the young generation.