ABSTRACT
This chapter mostly combines elements of women’s migration histories, efforts to settle down in new and unfamiliar surroundings, acculturation processes and present difficulties. Bearing in mind Esping Anderson’s analysis of welfare state regimes, it can still be argued that European welfare states share some similar trends and problems. However, it can also be argued that each nation within the European has its own history of migration that links to its historical past and to its concept of citizenship and provision of welfare. Besides models of empowerment and solidarity, there are models of organising care and protection. In Sossenheim there is an example of a centre that is run by a woman who is a key person in the quarter. In Sossenheim a headmistress of a nursery school has informally taken on responsibility for the whole community, and informal professional help has evolved.
