Welfare Reform on the Web (April 2005): Social Care - Overseas

SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PREGNANT WOMEN AND JUVENILE MOTHERS: CONFRONTING PRESENT DAY LEGISLATION IN GERMANY WITH THE PIONEERING THOUGHT OF J.H. PESTALOZZI

B. Müller

International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, vol.18, 2004, p.385-393

The Swiss pedagogue and philanthropist J.H. Pestalozzi (1746-1827) argued that the state should take care of the children of young unwed mothers. Paper connects this idea to the present German Law on Assistance to Children and Youth and makes the point that the logic of Pestalozzi's benevolent paternalism is still present in current social work. Analyses the tension at the heart of the present law, which regards young single mothers as at the same time adult clients of social services and children in need of protection.

SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PREGNANT WOMEN AND JUVENILE MOTHERS IN GERMANY: HISTORICAL CHANGES IN CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES

H. Flessner

International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, vol.18, 2004, p.371-384

Traces the history of social care of young single mothers in Germany from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Up to the advent of the Weimar republic social care was only provided by the Church and private charities. The Weimar Republic established a system of public welfare services for single mothers. After World War II there was an expansion in institutional care for single mothers and their babies, but this was scaled back in the 1970s. Currently aid for single mothers is delivered via the Youth Services system. An individually tailored package of support is put in place following Assistance Planning Counselling. There is also a strong emphasis on preventive education.