Press release No. 153 of 3 May 2016
WIESBADEN/BERLIN – Migrants in Germany are 35.4 years old – much younger than people without a migrant background (46.8 years). There are more singles, more people in education and training, and fewer of retirement age. However, immigrants in Germany also are less educated, more seldom in employment, they earn less and are more often threatened by poverty. In fact there are major differences between individual groups of migrants. The impact of education is quite obvious. For migrants, too, a higher level of education means better opportunities on the labour market, higher incomes and a falling risk of poverty.
This is the situation depicted by the Data Report 2016, a social report for the Federal Republic of Germany released in Berlin today. Statisticians and social researchers have compiled figures and findings that relate to major areas of life, including migration and integration. The data report is edited by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb, the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
The better qualified are more seldom unemployed
In 2014, 65% of the 15 to 64-year-olds with a migrant background were in employment – 11 percentage points less than of the population without a migrant background (76%). The percentage of unemployed was markedly higher for the population with a migrant background (7%) than without (4%). This was mainly due to the high unemployment rates of migrants from countries where guest workers had been recruited (7%) and from third countries (8%). Occupational qualification and unemployment are closely related here. The share of unemployed people without a vocational qualification was 10% for the population with a migrant background and 11% for those without a migrant background. The higher the occupational qualification the lower the risk of unemployment.
Education pays where income is concerned
The significance of education is also reflected by income. In 2014, immigrants with a low educational attainment earned 272 euros less than those who had reached a medium level of qualification, who in turn earned 683 euros less than those with a high-level qualification. For people without a migrant background the differences were 311 and 963 euros, respectively.
Older migrants particularly affected by poverty
For the first time the data report informs about the life situation of older migrants. In 2013, 4.1 million of them were at least 50 years old. The living conditions of this "50+ generation" strongly depend on their educational and training biographies. Nearly two thirds of the older migrants from countries where guest workers had been recruited did not have a vocational qualification, only 50% were still working. More than one fourth received a pension already, mostly because of incapacity for work. As a consequence, the poverty rate is rather high. Nearly a fourth of the 50 to 64-year-olds and a good third of the over 65-year-olds are threatened by poverty. This means they have a notably higher poverty risk than the population of the same age without a migrant background (11%). The life situation of older (ethnic) German repatriates is somewhat better. Three fourths of them hold a vocational qualification, three fourths are still working. Nevertheless, their poverty rate is also comparably high at 18%.
Migrants are more content and optimistic
Migrants are more often affected by poverty. Therefore, it is not surprising that they rate their living standard and their household income lower than people without a migrant background. However, when migrants are asked how satisfied they are with life in general, their dissatisfaction is not above average. On the contrary, they are even somewhat more content than the population without a migrant background and more optimistic about the future. They even expect their life satisfaction to be markedly higher in five years' time than people without a migrant background.
Providing migrants with an access to and structures for learning opportunities
Migrants and their offspring participate in social life in different ways and to a varying extent, depending on social and legal framework conditions. Their participation in social life also strongly depends on how open society is to migrants. This means that integration must not be regarded as a one-way process. To promote mutual integration, civic education has to provide opportunities to people with a migrant background and, simultaneously, contribute to overcoming the prejudices that exist in parts of society.
The Data Report is available for free download on the websites of the Federal Statistical Office, the Berlin Social Science Center (www.wzb.eu/datenreport) and the Federal Agency for Civic Education (www.bpb.de/datenreport2016). The book edition may be obtained from the Federal Agency for Civic Education (www.bpb.de/nachschlagen) against payment of 4.50 euros.