Education and Career Prospects in Essen: Growing Up Poor Increases Likelihood of Crime

The extreme social divide in Essen, between southern affluence and northern poverty, not only creates obvious segregation among current adult generations but also strongly influences the future prospects of the city’s youth. Sociologists agree: children who grow up poor have less access to quality education and career opportunities, and are therefore more likely to engage in criminal activity.

In socially disadvantaged districts, schools are generally under-resourced and ill-equipped to meet the diverse needs of students, particularly in Essen. Poor education typically continues into vocational training or higher education, often resulting in higher unemployment, which in turn perpetuates the local cycle of social decline. Children from wealthy families enjoy better opportunities, and social inequality grows from one generation to the next.

This disparity is evident in the absence of high-quality secondary schools in Essen’s problem districts. Human rights organisations repeatedly point out that sufficient resources exist for everyone, yet they are distributed unequally. According to Oxfam Germany, 1 percent of the global population owns nearly 50 percent of the world’s total wealth. While these figures primarily reflect emergency regions in Africa and Asia, they exemplify the unequal distribution of wealth even in Central European cities such as Essen.

Robbery and Theft as Consequences – Investigation by Kurtz Detective Agency Essen

The social disadvantage of children and adolescents is reflected in official crime statistics. In 2014, almost 50 percent of all robberies were committed by individuals under 21 years of age, despite youth making up only about 12 percent of the city’s population. Cases of theft increased by almost 12 percent that year. One example:

"On 20 June 2014, a branch of Sparkasse at Bäuminghausstraße 82 in Essen triggered an alarm. A single perpetrator had noted on an envelope that it was a robbery. To emphasise the threat, he partially opened his jacket, allowing the cashier to see, but not clearly identify, a dark object. The victim handed over nearly €10,000. After a manhunt, the offender was arrested in a vehicle in Duisburg and the majority of the loot recovered. The 36-year-old had previously robbed the same branch and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2006. For the new offence, he again received a seven-year sentence." (Source: Essen Police)

When the police cannot or will not assist in resolving property crimes affecting your assets, the private detectives of Kurtz Detective Agency Essen are ready to help: +49 201 3840 9057.

Social Divide in Germany Larger Than Ever; Globally as Extreme as 30 Years Ago

According to the OECD, global social inequality as of December 2014 is at its highest level in 30 years. The 85 richest people in the world own as much as the entire poorer half of the global population – 85 individuals controlling as much wealth as 3.5 billion people.

In Germany, the situation is even more extreme: the five richest Germans possess as much wealth as the poorest 40 percent of the population combined. This elite disparity exacerbates educational deficits, widening the gap between rich and poor across generations. Access to education worldwide – and particularly in Germany, and even more so in Essen – is heavily determined by parental income and background.

Essen Initiatives: Support on the EU Refugee Issue

The first half of 2015 saw Europe struggling with refugee flows from Africa into the EU. While Italy, especially the impoverished south, was overwhelmed, wealthy nations like Germany and France were slow to respond. UK Prime Minister David Cameron openly stated that this was a problem for continental Europeans, not the British – a deeply unsocial and inhumane stance that angered many Europeans and northern Britons alike, particularly in Scotland.

Fortunately, Essen has not remained indifferent to this challenge, actively addressing it by constructing new refugee housing and creating practical solutions to this global issue.