Why Organising Their Interests Is So Difficult
Unemployed People Have a Weak Lobby
- 17.08.2026
Unemployed people and jobseekers have little lobbying power and receive limited public and political support. A new report by the Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ) at the University of Duisburg-Essen examines the wide range of challenges faced by organisations representing the interests of unemployed people. One politically sensitive finding is that right-wing populist parties are moving into the representation gap that has emerged.
For the study*, Dr Fabian Beckmann of the Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ) and Dr Florian Spohr of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Stuttgart investigated how organisations mobilise and represent unemployed people. Based on interviews with organisations run by and for those affected, welfare associations and trade unions, they analysed the reasons behind these organisational difficulties.
The key findings: self-organised initiatives for unemployed people have very limited financial resources with which to represent their interests politically. Although they receive public funding, this is often tied to time-consuming social law counselling. Within welfare organisations and trade unions, meanwhile, the concerns of unemployed people compete with the interests of other groups. Frequent changes in membership, an ageing membership base and conflicts of interest also make it more difficult to mobilise unemployed people and organise them on a lasting basis.
Another factor is the negative public image of unemployed people. “Their persistent stigmatisation in public debate causes many of those affected to withdraw rather than organise and show solidarity with one another. This makes it more difficult for organisations to make a counter-position to common narratives publicly visible,” says IAQ labour market researcher Fabian Beckmann.
Representatives of organisations interviewed for the study reported that many unemployed people feel neither seen nor politically represented. As a result, they are receptive to right-wing populist parties. In Germany’s 2025 federal election, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 34% of the vote among unemployed people, significantly more than its share among the population as a whole, which stood at 21%. “By turning the conflict between rich and poor into a conflict between Germans and immigrants, the AfD offers a form of interest representation ‘from the right’,” Beckmann explains.
The researchers see some grounds for optimism in the fact that organisations representing unemployed people are successfully using a range of legal instruments, such as litigation and legal advice. Mobilisation via social media could also broaden public awareness. “Young organisations such as ‘Sanktionsfrei’ repeatedly succeed in generating news value through personal stories and targeted campaigns,” says Florian Spohr.
* The interviews were conducted as part of the project “Between Fragmentation and Marginalisation: The Representation of Weak Interests Using the Example of Unemployed People” (RESCHI).
Publication (in German only): Fabian Beckmann, Florian Spohr, 2026: Disorganised Unemployed People: Mobilisation Problems, Representation Gaps and the Political Shifting of Conflicts. Duisburg: Institute for Work, Skills and Training. IAQ Report 2026-08.
Further information:
Dr Fabian Beckmann, Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ), fabian.beckmann@uni-due.de
Editor:
Katja Goepel, Press Officer, Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ), katja.goepel@uni-due.de