As of: 01/06/2022 8:23 a.m.
Almost a fifth of all full-time employees in Germany are low-wage earners. A study by the union-related Hans Böckler Foundation shows in which regions and sectors the share is highest.
Working full-time and still only getting a low wage – this is a reality for 18.7 percent of all full-time employees in Germany. This is the result of a study by the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the union-related Hans Böckler Foundation, which is based on pay data from the Federal Employment Agency for 2020.
Less than 2284 euros gross
In this study, full-time employees are defined as low-wage earners who have to make ends meet with gross wages of less than 2284 euros per month. So you earn less than two thirds of the median gross monthly wage of all full-time employees subject to social security contributions.
There are certain population groups who often have to get by on meager wages above average: These include women, young full-time employees, those with foreign citizenship and people without a professional qualification. In addition, the proportion of low-wage earners in eastern Germany is still significantly higher than in the west.
Noticeable improvement
But there has also been progress. While in 2011 21.1 of all full-time employees were low-paid, in 2020 only 18.7 percent fell into this category. “In recent years we have succeeded in pushing back the lower pay range,” said Helge Emmler, one of the authors of the study, describing the trend. This applies in particular to eastern Germany.
The study shows large income differences by gender: nationwide, 25.4 percent of women had to get by on a low monthly income despite full-time work, but only 15.4 percent of men.
Training also plays a major role: The proportion of low-wage earners was 40.8 percent for full-time employees without a vocational qualification, 17.8 percent for those with a vocational qualification and only 4.9 percent for those with a university certificate.
The east stands out negatively
There were also large differences in income by region: in cities and metropolitan areas where large employers from industry, finance and knowledge or administration play an important role, there are usually only low rates of low-wage earners.
In the statistics with the highest rates of low-wage earners, only cities and districts in eastern Germany can be found: In Görlitz, the Saale-Orla district and the Erzgebirge district, more than 40 percent of full-time employees worked in the lower pay range in 2020. In Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, it was just 6.4 percent, and 8.3 percent in Erlangen, Bavaria.
Hospitality and contract work badly affected
There were also huge differences between the industries. In the hospitality industry (68.9 percent), contract work (67.9) and agriculture and forestry (52.7), more than half of the full-time employees fell into the low-wage category. In the metal and electrical industry, on the other hand, it was only 7.6 percent, in the finance and insurance industry 4.2 percent and in the public sector only 2.5 percent of full-time employees.