Single parent and unemployed: an analysis of data of the general social counseling of Caritas

We analyze 37,000 Caritas counseling surveys to reveal how single mothers face disproportionate long-term unemployment—evidence that shapes policy advocacy.

Exploratory Analysis SurveyProcess

Status: Finished
Project Period: October 2021 – May 2022
Outputs: External Article Code Repository
Partner: German Caritas Association, division living conditions and solidarity

The German Caritas Association is the Catholic association of non-statutory welfare organizations and Germany's largest welfare association, with over 6,000 independent legal entities. In their approximately 25,000 facilities and services, the Caritas organizations provide effective help for people in difficult life situations. They also help shape social and socio-political developments. The headquarters of the German Caritas Association (German: Deutscher Caritasverband / DCV) in Freiburg is responsible for representing interests at the federal political level. It is also responsible for the professional development of the association, bringing together practice, politics and research. In this project, we work together with the division of social living conditions and solidarity.
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In collaboration with the German welfare association Caritas, the CorrelAid team analysed data collected through their annual survey of clients of the “Allgemeine Sozialberatung” (general social counselling). The service provides counselling for problems ranging from debt, unemployment, over inter-familiar problems to social services. The team conducted an explorative data analysis in R, including 37,000 questionnaires from 2010 to 2021, and pointed out several trends and core problems: For example, single mothers face a significantly higher risk of experiencing long-term unemployment than other social groups. This effect is especially pronounced for those single mothers with lower levels of education. The analysis results were published in the journal “Neue Caritas” and provide data-based evidence for Caritas’ core demands vis-à-vis the German government, advocating for better support for vulnerable groups.