Children in the "social investment state"

The international researcher network COSTA 19 traced the issue of the specific position of children in the "welfare architecture" of European nations. The article points out that we are witnessing a fundamental shift from a redistributive to an activating respective a "Social Investment State". The idea underlying this concept is that the state should not - as up till now - merely protect the social positions ofparticular "at risk " groups in a reactive manner, but should rather build "human capital " or "social capital" by investing in individuals and communities. It is shown that this shift gains ground in Germany as well. The article discusses the ambivalent consequences of this process of restructuring modern welfare states on the citizenship status of children.