Growing Up in Germany in the Great Recession: Perceptions of Social Justice and Disorientation

Objective information on the current financial and economic crisis is plentifully available. Issues concerning the fair distribution of burdens are emerging, causing uncertainty not confined to the middle class. The young generation in particular faces significant challenges when entering the world of work. How do young people react? Do they feel increasingly disoriented? Are their perceptions of justice changing? How significant are the influences exerted by dimensions of inequality (education) and by growing up in different regional contexts (East and West)? What are the effects of stressful life experiences in the immediate social environment (unemployment/financial problems)? All these issues will be examined and analysed with the help of data collected in the DJI Survey AID:A (2009) and previous waves of the DJI Youth Survey (1992 and 2003). This contribution is thus aimed at providing analyses over time and establishing distinctions at various levels of resources, stress situations and individual competence.