2.2 million children and young people in Germany are affected by poverty. According to a recent UNICEF study, this puts Germany behind countries such as Poland and Slovenia. We meet young people who grew up in poverty and are still fighting to be able to lead an independent life. What does it do to a person to grow up without financial opportunities and why has child poverty not been effectively combated in Germany so far? Mariam has been cared for by child and youth welfare services since she was 15. Due to difficult family circumstances, she had to leave home early. This meant that Mariam had very different starting conditions than many other people of her age. Because she is still legally bound to the youth welfare office, she falls into an administrative gap. She is not entitled to discounts that people receiving citizen's allowance, such as discounts on cultural events or local transport, get. During the Corona pandemic, Mariam had difficulty attending classes because she did not have her own laptop for financial reasons. Now she is trying to get her high school diploma - on her own outside of a normal school. When she could, she also worked part-time jobs - but until this year, due to legal restrictions, she was barely able to earn anything extra to improve her financial situation. As a result, she was never able to build up any savings. Sometimes Mariam hardly has any money left for food, as was the case recently when the oven unexpectedly broke. Kaushik grew up in a family that was on welfare. His father's salary as a cook was not enough for the family of four. Today, Kaushik campaigns for educational equality and volunteers for the Arbeiterkind association. He finances his studies with the help of student loans, part-time jobs and a scholarship. Manda has been a single parent since Max was born. Max has noticed money problems since childhood. Manda is trying very hard to stand on her own two feet financially. That's why, in addition to her part-time job in the office, she also works in a bar and cleans from time to time. Because of the rise in prices due to inflation, they live on the edge financially every month. They are currently unable to build up any savings. Note: There are different calculations for the figures on the risk of poverty. Poverty is calculated differently by different institutions in Germany. Therefore, the figures sometimes differ. We have focused primarily on data used by the Federal Statistical Office. Our list of sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C... A film by Betül Sarikaya, Mette Marit Olsson and Simon Hoyme Collaboration: Kristin Langen, Manuel Biallas Camera: Simon Hoyme, Tobias Zwior, Sulaiman Tadmory Editing: Claudia Qualmann, Julian Schöneich, Maximilian Klein Mixing: Heiko Stoevesandt Graphics: Jakob Rompkowski, Yannik Rahn Final production: Maximilian Klein Editor: Alena Jabarine #childarmut #germany __________ Every Tuesday! Do you have topic suggestions? Write to us at: [email protected] You don't want to miss anything? ???? Subscription: https://bit.ly/2SKo6UH ???? Instagram: / strg_f __________ We are also part of #funk! Check it out: YouTube: @funk Instagram: / funk TikTok: / funk Website: https://go.funk.net​​ ???? Legal notice: https://go.funk.net/impressum Here is our netiquette: https://www.funk.net/netiquette