Background: Over 70% of children in Germany grow up with at least one other child living in the same household (Statistisches Bundesamt 2014). During childhood, sisters and brothers are companions, teachers, role models but also rivals to each other (Walper et al. 2010). Growing up, siblings make very similar, but not the same experiences, and share the same family history (Zukow 1989). Yet, very little research exists on risk for siblings to experience similar types of maltreatment, their effect on the quality of the sibling relationship and long-term consequences in adulthood.

Method: Participants were recruited using an online survey. Through the course of the online survey participants were asked to invite one of their siblings to take part in the study as well. Both siblings answered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and further questions about critical life events, questions regarding their relationship with their siblings and parents during childhood as well as a short measure on their own well-being during the last two weeks.

Results: A total of 4568 participants completed the online questionnaire, in 870 cases both siblings participated in the study. Differences and similarities between childhood maltreatment experience and their implication for the quality of the sibling relationship as well as links to well-being in adulthood are reported.

Discussion: Implications of the results for research and practice as well as limitations of the study are discussed.

In Germany – like in most European countries - children are still at greater risk of poverty and of social benefit receipt.

In this paper, we compare the situation of children in low income families with families with a secured financial position (no income poverty or benefit receipt).

For our analysis we use the eight wave of the panel study “Labour Market and Social Security” (PASS), which is an annual household panel survey for research on unemployment, poverty and the welfare state in Germany. The questionnaire includes more than 20 deprivation items to measure economic deprivation which can be defined as the non-availability of goods considers essential for an appropriate standard of living in a society, e.g. having an apartment with balcony, having television, having a hot meal per day, inviting friends for dinner at home.

The analyses show that the living conditions of children in low income households in terms of availability of goods and opportunities to social and cultural participation are characterized by an undersupply in almost all areas considered. Furthermore it is also apparent that financial reserves can hardly be formed and unexpected expenses can rarely be overcome However, in the availability of basic goods only slight differences occur.

This congress looks at megatrends and how they influence families today. Mentioned in the call are several key factors, all of which challenge families “to find their own ways to deal with the consequences of these megatrends”. This paper starts from a slightly different perspective, as it suggests that there are regional and cultural contexts in which families are not challenged to find their own way, but as parts of larger units, namely communities, which serve as factors of resilience and as political actors to enforce interests that will benefit both family and community life. A good example for this close connection between community and family and its benefits in times of transformation are dockland communities in Dublin who have held their own ground against developers amidst regeneration of the former port area. Generally welcome by the residents, many aspects in the master plan have been heavily criticised, particularly if activists see the functioning community/family structure threatened. In the context of these debates, this presentation analyses the close relationship between family and community and how a close community structure can serve as a beneficial and resilience factor for families in disadvantaged areas and times of urban regeneration. The results are based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Dublin docklands between 2002 and 2010, comprising more than 200 structured and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by local archive documents. However, the most detailed insight in community and family life I gained as an anthropological participant observer by becoming part of the communities studied.