Soziale Netzwerke als Ressource für den Umgang mit Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit

This article deals with the consequences of the transition from the caring to the activating welfare state, as pursued through the labour market reforms of the “Agenda 2010”. In the course of these reforms, long-term unemployed persons, in particular, were made responsible for their situation. Meeting exigencies of individual responsibility and activation requires compensatory action on the part of those concerned in order to replace public support that is withdrawn. In our article we examine the role of social networks in providing such compensation. For this purpose, we analyse 34 qualitative interviews with long-term unemployed persons from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In the course of these interviews, data about social networks the interviewees were involved in were collected, and the role of these networks for coping with the consequences of long-term unemployment was studied. We conclude that such networks, although providing important resources for social support, should nevertheless not be overestimated: The opportunity to use such resources is strongly limited for many of the persons interviewed, and effective and reliable support is in many cases only available from institutional supporters.