Black people, Asians and Muslims are more often affected by poverty in Germany than other people. According to a study, this applies even if they are well educated and employed.
Black, Asian and Muslim people in Germany are more often at risk of poverty than people without a migration background. This is the result of a survey by German Center for Integration and Migration Research.
For Muslims it is even up to 40 percent. For Asian men and women it is 30 percent and for black people it is around 26 percent. In contrast, the poverty risk in Germany is on average 14.8 percent. As the results of the study show, this also applies when those affected by racism have a high level of education and work.
The researchers note that full-time workers are less likely to live below the poverty threshold, “but there are still clear differences between racially marked and non-racially marked people.”
While the risk of poverty for full-time working German men and women without a migration background is five percent each, the probability of being affected by poverty is significantly higher for Muslim men in full-time employment at 21 percent. Black women with full-time jobs have a very high risk of poverty at 22 percent.
For people with a migrant background born in Germany who completed their training in Germany, the risk of poverty is lower than for immigrants who acquired their qualifications abroad. However, the chances of a good income are also lower for this group than for Germans without a migration history with comparable educational qualifications.
Researcher: Passport has an impact on income
Migration researcher Zerrin Salikutluk, author of the report and head of the Racism Monitor, highlighted the connection between citizenship and the risk of poverty. A German passport has long-term effects on income. Certain professions, for example in the public service, could only be given to German citizens.
In the private sector, employers are unsettled when an applicant’s residence status is not clarified or they shy away from the expense of the human resources department, explained Salikutluk.
Hurdles in recognizing qualifications
In addition, many immigrants work in jobs for which they are actually overqualified, she said. This is because there are hurdles that make it difficult to have foreign qualifications recognized in Germany.
The President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, said the report proves that there are “certain myths” in Germany, such as the promise that performance and investment in education are worthwhile. “That’s not true for certain groups,” he said. This also needs to change from an economic perspective in view of the lack of workers. The report suggests “that there is huge potential.”
According to the institute, the study is based on a survey by the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor, for which around 13,000 people have been surveyed regularly since 2022. The representative online survey is intended to provide insights into the attitudes and experiences of various population groups.
For the analyses, the survey participants were asked whether they felt like they belonged to one of these groups:
- So-called “non-racially marked people”. According to the study, these are people who identify themselves as Germans without a migration background and do not otherwise feel like they belong to any other group.
- black people
- Asian people
- Muslim people
- Germans with a migration background. According to the study, this category includes people who only identify themselves as Germans with a migration background.