Nearly two-thirds of German residents receiving unemployment benefits have a migration background, new figures from the Federal Employment Agency have revealed.
The statistics published by the federal agency and cited by the Die Welt broadsheet showed that 63.1 percent of those in receipt of the so-called citizen’s income, or “Bürgergeld,” are of migrant origin, and “most do not have a German passport.”
The German newspaper explained that while employment figures are increasing year-over-year, “because the Federal Republic has long allowed very high immigration of low-skilled people, the number of migrants who are unemployed and receiving social benefits is also increasing.”
The figures define “migration background” as anyone who themselves or whose parents were born without German citizenship, i.e., first- and second-generation migrants.
Of the 3.93 million people eligible for the taxpayer-funded benefit as of December 2023, some 2.48 million were classed as being of a migration background, with 1.83 million recipients not having German citizenship.
The percentage varies considerably among the federal states. In Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and Hamburg, more than 7 in 10 of all recipients are migrants at 76.4 percent, 74.1 percent, and 72.8 percent, respectively.
There exists a strong correlation between the rise in the migrant population and the percentage of welfare benefits going to migrants, giving weight to the argument that mass immigration of low-skilled workers is not a net benefit to Europe’s largest economy.
In 2013, the percentage of the German population with a migration background was 20 percent, with 43 percent of benefit recipients being migrants. Today, 29 percent of the German population are foreign-born and 63 percent of unemployment benefits are handed to migrants.
In July last year, a response by Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Anette Kramme to a request made by the Alternative for Germany MP René Springer revealed that the number of German recipients of welfare benefits had halved since 2010, while the number of foreign nationals receiving payments had doubled.
The cost to the taxpayer has skyrocketed since 2010, with a 122 percent increase on the €6.9 billion bill then to around €15.4 billion a year today.
Springer said at the time that Germany desperately needed to implement “a restrictive immigration policy that effectively prevents immigration into our social systems. The citizens’ income introduced by the federal government, on the other hand, acts like an immigration magnet.”