Intergenerational integration trajectories
Integration Department
Project head: Dr. Niklas Harder
Project team members: Johanna Okroi , Dr. David Schiefer
In empirical integration reporting, people with migration experience (first generation) and their children (second generation) or grandchildren (third generation) are usually considered and discussed as separate generations. Since in Germany, even independent of the immigration context, people's life decisions and realities are strongly dependent on the parental home, this project will dissolve the isolated view of the generations and further develop the understanding of integration in the family and intergenerational context theoretically and empirically. The focus will not only be on how the positions of older generations influence the realities of life of younger generations. The research interest also refers to the question of how younger generations adjust to the needs of their ageing parents and grandparents and thus also shape the realities of life of older migrants in Germany.
The project asks to what extent integration trajectories are influenced by parents or families. This influence will be compared with the influences of individual decisions and social institutions (e.g. schools). The project focuses particularly on the areas of social mobility (education and work), social engagement, values and general life satisfaction. Based on descriptive analyses, four specific questions will be focused on:
- To what extent does the social status and social mobility of the descendants of immigrants depend on their parents and does this dependency differ from the dependencies in the "majority society"?
- Can the postulated re-ethnicisation of the "third generation" be empirically proven and does this re-ethnicisation apply equally to all descendants of immigrants or does it depend on family constellations?
- To what extent is social engagement inherited and what effect does such an inheritance process have on the social engagement of the descendants of immigrants?
- Does the situation of single parents with a migration background differ from those without a migration background and is there a particular need for state support here?
Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)