Purpose: Migrant mothers reaching out to and integrating other migrant mothers
Stimulus/Rationale:
Process:
The “Stadtteilmütter” (District Mothers) project is targeted at areas under Neighbourhood Management with a high proportion of children and young people from the most disadvantaged demographic groups. Parents – particularly those from an immigrant background – may have difficulties in their roles as child-raisers and educators, whilst adapting to an unfamiliar system. Trust in state agencies is extremely difficult to foster, especially in the case of families who have emigrated from countries which lack constitutional structures comparable to those found in Germany.
Berlin deploys the instrument of “Quartiersmanagement” (Neighbourhood Management) to address the manifold problems inherent in areas in need of development. Children and young people from the most disadvantaged demographic groups are represented in all 33 areas covered by Neighbourhood Management. What is needed is the introduction of steps and measures that give equal opportunities to all children.
Borough support of the pilot project enabled synergy effects in project organisation, networking, public outreach and the actual work itself. Women and mothers of immigrant background have been given a short training course enabling them to speak directly to families from their own community about various topics (immigration, language, work, health, law, childcare and targeted development of children and young people). Outreach is thus achieved to demographic groups removed from education and welfare services, and immigrant families become open to their neighbourhoods. The women themselves acquire skills that enable them to deal better with their roles as child-raisers and educators. Furthermore, their employment allowance gives them a unique opportunity to assert themselves on the labour market. For many families the mother’s employment represents their very first contact with the labour market – the mother’s training as a Stadtteilmutter opens new employment perspectives for the children and relations.
As of 2022, after 18 years of the programme, Neukölln district mothers spoke 15 languages – from Albanian to Arabic, Hindi to Urdu. Over 15,000 families had been visited at least ten times each, which equates to 150,000 conversations about social participation and self-determination. In Neukölln alone, 486 women had been trained and hired as district mothers to date. For many of them it was their first ever job.
Since 2020, around half of the Neukölln district mothers have been employed through the state programme of the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family. Other district mothers work as part of employment measures run by the job centre and the Senate Department of Labour. The continuation of the project via the Senate programme in 2020 was a milestone in the establishment and recognition of the district mothers.
From the beginning, the role of the district mothers has been about neighborhood issues, women's rights, political participation. District mothers are involved in advisory boards, members in clubs, parent representatives in their children's schools, city leaders in their neighborhood. In addition to their core tasks, they are involved in challenging topics such as escape, history, racism, art and culture. In doing so, they build bridges between institutions and families, mediate between cultures and thereby represent a broad concept of education.
Impact:
Key reference documents:
For more information: https://www.stadtteilmuetter.de/
