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My dissertation studies the provision of reproduction knowledge in school-based sexuality education from a comparative European perspective, with a specific focus on German-speaking countries. Sexuality education is a key channel through which knowledge is transmitted and remains a primary source of reproduction information for the majority of pupils. What is more, people’s knowledge about reproduction plays a crucial role in shaping their reproductive experiences and trajectories. Not least due to this, discussions surrounding sexuality education persist as a significant cultural battleground where debates revolve around notions of sexuality generally, but also around the level of state involvement in the provision of reproduction knowledge.

Families are increasingly outsourcing care and nursing activities. For example, care homes and mobile care services are increasingly replacing informal support from relatives. At the same time, women and men are reorganizing the distribution of paid and unpaid work and young children are no longer cared for exclusively by their mothers, but also by daycare centers and increasingly by fathers. Building on the results of the BMBF-funded project “The Social Psychology of Care Work” (duration 01/2012 - 07/2018), this project analyzes the effects of these changes on social inequalities in several thematically and methodologically linked sub-projects. Why is the pay for social services still low despite the high demand for care workers?

The number of people in need of care, particularly for the elderly and those who are ill, is growing and with it the need for paid care work. Despite this increase in demand, employment in the home care sector remains precarious, characterized by poor pay and little job security. This research project has two objectives: first, to conduct a standardized survey to better understand the living situation and motivation of migrants working in this sector in Germany, particularly in the greater Berlin area; and second, to test the “Respondent-Driven Sampling” (RDS survey method), which is not yet well-established in Germany.