In Berlin, almost 20 percent of all full-time employees are low-paid.
Photo: dpa / Kay Nietfeld
First of all, the good news: The proportion of low-wage earners in working society has fallen in recent years, especially in the East. This is the result of a new study by the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) of the Hans-Böckler-Foundation, which is available to “nd.DerTag”. But almost 19 percent of all full-time employees still go home with a narrow wage packet. It is particularly common for women, people with a migration background and – despite the actually positive development – East Germans.
For their study, the WSI researchers evaluated data from the pay statistics of the Federal Employment Agency (BA). These are considered to be very precise because they often come directly from the company’s payroll software. Accordingly, low-wage earners are those who receive less than two thirds of the average gross monthly salary despite a full-time job. In 2020 this was equivalent to 2284 euros. All those who earn less are classified by the BA in the “lower pay range” category.
According to this, the proportion of low-wage earners in the east fell from 39.9 to 29.1 percent between 2011 and 2020. But their share is still much higher in the new federal states than in the west. “The circles in which the lower pay range extends to more than four out of ten full-time employees subject to social security contributions are all in the east,” write study authors Eric Seils and Helge Emmler. The municipalities are: Erzgebirgskreis (43.2 percent), Görlitz (42.5 percent), Saale-Orla-Kreis (41.2 percent), Western Pomerania-Rügen (40.8 percent) and the Vogtlandkreis (40.2 percent) .
»The planned increase in the minimum wage to 12 euros is certainly a step in the right direction. In order to get ahead here, a strengthening of the collective bargaining agreement is also necessary, «warns study author Emmler reforms. In the east, it is not only the proportion of low-wage earners that is higher than in the west. The new federal states also have a lower level of collective bargaining coverage.
At the same time, Wolfsburg (6.4 percent) and Erlangen (8.3 percent) are the cities with the lowest proportion in the west. The proportion of low-wage earners in the West has hardly changed since 2011. Since then it has decreased slightly from 16.9 to 16.4 percent.
The WSI researchers found that the proportion of low-wage earners in large cities and metropolitan areas is lower than in rural areas. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that large companies that pay well can usually be found in large cities. On the other hand, it is also due to the higher cost of living in the metropolises. »In regions with high rents, wages are usually higher. But that doesn’t necessarily mean more purchasing power for employees, because rents and prices eat up the higher wages, ”says WSI researcher Seils.
Berlin stands out in the East German comparison: At 19.2 percent, the proportion of low-wage earners is closer to the overall German than the East German average. At the same time, the federal capital stands out from the statistics for another reason: It is one of the few municipalities in which fewer women (18.8 percent) than men (19.4 percent) have to get by on a low salary. This only applies to six of a total of around 400 districts in Germany – and all six are in eastern Germany.
The likelihood of being poor despite working full-time does not only depend on where you live. Gender also plays a role. 25.4 percent of all full-time women in Germany are low-wage earners, while the figure is only 15.4 percent for men. There are circles in which this gender injustice is even more striking: in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, for example, the proportion for men is 8.1 percent, while it is 24.1 percent for women.
A migration background also has a negative impact on earnings prospects. The proportion of low-wage earners among full-time employees without a German passport is 36.9 percent. The industry also plays a role: In the hospitality industry, 68.9 percent are low-paid, in the public sector only 2.5 percent.
.
