Flexibility and Individualisation: A Comparison of Transitions into Employment in England and Germany

Abstract

In virtually all advanced capitalist industrial societies, transitions from compulsory education into employment have been prolonged since the 1970s. The basic reasons are the same everywhere, but there have been contrasting interpretations of youth's new social condition by different countries' social scientists. Here a particularly sharp contrast is between Britain and Germany. In the former country most researchers have taken a negative view of the trends, whereas German scholars have stressed the spread of flexibility, individualisation, and opportunities for self-directed growth. This paper discusses the similarities and differences between transitions into employment in Britain and Germany using evidence from matched samples of 16-22 year olds. It is argued that there are fundamental, systemic differences between the organisation of entering the labour forces in Britain and Germany. In Germany transitions take longer, are more structured, and are rooted in a training culture. However, each country's young people are made to feel that they themselves make significant choices, and their transitions have become individualised. Simultaneously, individuals' opportunities in each country continue to be governed by the familiar predictors - family background, sex, place of residence, and attainments in secondary education. It is argued that in each country young people are prototypical cases of broader trends towards structured individualisation and the fragmentation of formerly more homogeneous social groups.