study
Poorly paid despite a full-time job: Where most low-income earners live
In gastronomy, people often do not pay well, at least there are tips
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Almost every fifth employee earns less than 2284 euros gross despite a full-time job. A study shows where particularly many and where particularly few low-income earners live.
Working full-time and still only going home with a meager wage at the end of the month – that happens to millions of people in Germany. The proportion of low-wage earners differs greatly from region to region, according to a study by the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) of the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation.
All full-time employees who earn less than two thirds of the median gross income are defined as low-wage earners. The threshold for 2020 is exactly 2284 euros per month. Nationwide, 18.7 percent earned less, i.e. around one in five full-time employees.
East is catching up, but is still behind
The good news: The group of low-paid full-time workers has been shrinking for years. In 2011, 21.1 percent of full-time employees subject to social security contributions were in the so-called “lower pay range”. The positive development is primarily due to a catching-up process in the eastern German federal states: While the low-wage rate in the west has consistently been between 16 and 17 percent for ten years, it has decreased in the east (including Berlin) from 39 to 29 percent since 2011.
Nevertheless, it is only cities and districts in eastern Germany that stand out in the statistics with the highest low-wage rates. In the Erzgebirgskreis, in Görlitz, in the Saale-Orla-Kreis, in Vorpommern-Rügen and in the Vogtlandkreis, more than 40 percent of the full-time employees earn less than the aforementioned 2284 euros gross. The fewest low-wage earners, on the other hand, are in Wolfsburg (6.4 percent), Erlangen (8.3 percent), Stuttgart (8.9 percent) and Munich (9.1 percent) – all wealthy cities in the west.
Table: Share of full-time employees with gross income of less than EUR 2,284
Erzgebirgskreis | 43.2% |
Gorlitz | 42.5% |
Saale-Orla district | 41.2% |
Western Pomerania-Ruegen | 40.8% |
Vogtland district | 40.2% |
Germany | 18.7% |
Ingolstadt | 9.5% |
Munich | 9.1% |
Stuttgart | 8.9% |
gain | 8.3% |
Wolfsburg | 6.4% |
Source: WSI
Differences by gender, education, industry
However, when making the assessment, it should be taken into account that it is only about the money on the pay slip and not about what is ultimately left to be spent. “In regions with high rents, the wages are usually higher. That doesn’t necessarily mean more purchasing power for the employees, because the rents and prices eat up the higher wages,” says study author Eric Seils. However, according to the definition of the Federal Employment Agency, the low-wage limit is set the same nationwide.
Aside from regional differences, there are other findings: nationwide, 25.4 percent of full-time women are below the low-wage threshold, but only 15.4 percent of men. Of the employees without a vocational qualification it is 40.8 percent, with vocational training 17.8 percent and with a university degree only 4.9 percent.
And there are also big differences between the industries. In the hospitality industry, almost seven out of ten full-time employees earn less than 2284 euros gross. In agriculture, forestry and fishing, it is more than one in two. In the metal and electrical industry, on the other hand, only 7.6 percent are affected and only 2.5 percent in the public sector. All data come from the pay statistics of the Federal Employment Agency.