Germany’s welfare system is being dragged down by the country’s growing immigrant population, with data from the country’s Federal Employment Agency showing that over six out of 10 welfare recipients deemed able to work are migrants.
The country’s welfare system, once referred to as Hartz IV, but now relabeled as citizen’s money (“Bürgergeld”), is now flowing to the country’s migrants, even though they make up a small share of Germany’s overall population. In fact, in some German states, they take in over 70 percent of all welfare money at a time when services and benefits are being cut for Germans across the country.
Overall, 62.6 percent of all welfare recipients are migrants, and within the 15 to 25 age group, this number goes up to 71.3 percent, according to German news outlet NIUS.
In the state of Hessen, which is home to Frankfurt, 76 percent of welfare recipients are migrants. In Baden-Württemberg 73.7 percent are migrants, in Hamburg the share is 72.3 percent, Bavaria features 64.4 percent, and in Berlin this figure is 67.8 percent. In the vast majority of states, the share is over 50 percent. Only the eastern German states, which have historically been far poorer and feature far fewer migrants, is the share below 50 percent. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the lowest share of migrants at 29.2 percent, but it also has one of the lowest numbers of migrants in all of Germany.
The Alternative for Germany, which has called for mass deportations to help save Germany’s budget, is pointing to the data to show the failure of the current left-liberal government’s approach to migration.
“The migration policy of the last few decades has failed catastrophically,” said AfD MP René Springer, who also serves as policy spokesperson. “Rigorous measures are now needed to stop further immigration into our social systems.”
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He said this means Germany needs “complete border protection and rejections at our national borders, consistent deportations, and from now on only benefits in kind instead of cash for asylum seekers and refugees.”
Perhaps most troubling, most of these welfare recipients with a migration background were actually born in the country. That means they may be German citizens speaking German, but they are still unable or unwilling to work.
The data will further poke holes in arguments that migrants are needed to prop up Germany’s pension system and fill the country’s workplaces. Instead, migrants are choosing simply not to work and collect welfare in huge numbers.
In addition, almost 60 percent have remained unemployed for over a year, which bodes poorly for this segment of the population integrating into the workforce in the future.
Previous data shows that Germany is expected to spend an enormous €36 billion on migrants in 2023 alone at a time when inflation and unemployment are growing.
