Study: Almost two-thirds of refugees in Germany at risk of poverty
Almost two-thirds of refugees in Germany are at risk of poverty, a leading economic institute has found.
The latest study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) released on Wednesday said that in 2022, 63.7% of refugees in the country were at risk of poverty, down from 70% in 2020.
The measure refers to people earning less than 60% of the median net household income. For a single person, the threshold in 2022 was €1,419 ($1,650) per month.
While the low-income rate has stagnated since 2019, it has risen overall in the population since 1995 as a result of “demographic changes, particularly due to migration,” the DIW said.
“Among people with a migrant background and especially among refugees, the low-income rate is above average, while it has remained almost unchanged for more than 10 years among the population without a migration background,” the institute said.
Around 13% of German residents without a migrant background are at risk of poverty each year. By comparison, the low-income rate for people who have immigrated from other EU countries is around 26%.
According to the DIW, refugees “struggle with language problems or the recognition of professional qualifications after arriving in Germany, among other things, so their employment rates are lower than those of the population without a migration background.”
The recent drop in the risk of poverty among refugees in particular is due to their increasing integration into the German labour market, DIW researcher Markus Grabka said.
