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![Flüchtlingsunterkunft]()
Local accommodation for refugees
The need for accommodation for refugees has grown steadily in the wake of the large-scale refugee movements to Europe since 2015. Often, there are regional protests when a new facility is announced. Thus, researchers investigated what influence the geographical proximity of accommodation has on people’s attitudes towards refugees.
To do this, they evaluated geographical data from the study “Living in Germany”, looking at people living within a radius of 20 kilometers of a facility. The result: there is hardly any evidence that nearby accommodation influences attitudes towards refugees. In fact, according to the researchers, people’s attitudes remain fairly stable over a longer period of time. There is much to suggest that negative attitudes are most likely to be driven by a general concern for the individually perceived well-being of society. The presence of accommodation for refugees in the immediate vicinity, on the other hand, is not a decisive factor.Further information
Photo credit
CC-BY-SA 4.0 International Andreas Schwarzkopf @ commons.wikimedia.org
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How does caregiving affect one’s own well-being?
Informal care work negatively affects well-being. The longer and the more hours are invested in care work, the greater the negative consequences – especially for women. This is shown by a study of possible changes after the start of caregiving and during it. Surveys of carers from three countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia) show that taking on a caring role generally has negative mental and psychosocial consequences. These consequences are particularly strong in the first two years after the start of caregiving. During this time, stress-reducing measures could be used to increase the well-being of caregivers.
The longer the care work lasts, the worse the respondents rate their life satisfaction. The effects are more pronounced for women than for men. For both genders, the more hours they spend on informal care work, the lower their own well-being.Further information
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![Drei Frauen und ein Mann trinken draußen Tee]()
Refugees have more contact with locals
Social contacts can be helpful for refugees when settling into their new home and can, for example, help them find accommodation and work or learn the new language. This applies for contacts with people who were born in Germany and are therefore familiar with German bureaucracy.
The annual participation of refugees in the “Living in Germany” study makes it possible to examine the development of contacts with people from the local population over time. There are clear differences between refugee men and women who sought protection in Germany in 2015/16. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the proportion of refugee men with at least weekly contact with Germans increased continuously, while no increase was observed among refugee women. During the pandemic, contact became less frequent for both genders. After the pandemic, the positive trend among men continued, while women also had significantly more contact with the local population.Further information
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![Älterer Mann sitzt am Tisch vor Geldbeutel und einigen Münzen.]()
High inequality despite rising wages
Only 10% of households in Germany have 56% of the wealth. This means that Germany performs poorly in terms of inequality in a European comparison. Average household net wealth increased by 39% in real terms between 2011 and 2021. However, gifts and inheritances in particular ensure an unequal distribution of wealth across generations.
Even the positive income trend in past years has not been able to reduce the population’s risk of poverty. In 2022, around 15 percent of households were living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (one-person household: €1,200 net household income per month, two-person household with child: €2,160). The findings on poverty in old age are also worrying: in eastern Germany, for example, one in four people aged 60 to 79 is at risk of poverty.Further information
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Health inequality
How do people in Germany rate their general state of health? If you look at data from the study “Living in Germany” from the last 20 years, you come to the following conclusion: people with lower incomes are more likely to report having less good or poor health. Researchers see this as a sign of growing health inequality: socially disadvantaged people have less chance of achieving and maintaining good health. They are also more likely to suffer from illnesses or die prematurely.
Further information
image by Stephen Andrews from Unsplash
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More home office than before the pandemic
How far spread is home office in Germany? Researchers investigated this based on study data from “Living in Germany”. Before the covid-19 pandemic, the option of working from home was used much less in Germany than abroad. Home office is now firmly established, albeit not in all sectors and across all socioeconomic factors.
Although working from home is no longer mandatory, almost 23% of employees still work from home once or several times a week. Particularly in the financial sector, in freelance, scientific and technical services, in real estate, in public administration, and in the information and communication sector, there has been a strong increase in working from home. In smaller companies with up to 100 employees, the increase in home office use compared to before the pandemic has been weaker than in larger companies (10 vs. 30 percent).
The higher the qualification and income, the more people work from home. Couples and single people use the option of working from home very frequently, people with children most often. It is striking that people working from home typically report both more weekly working hours and greater satisfaction – in terms of their work, their income, and also their general life situation.
Further information
Rheinische Post: Weniger Beschäftigte arbeiten nach Corona ausschließlich im Homeoffice (in German).
Foto by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
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High-income households emit more CO2
Based on data from the study “Living in Germany,” researchers have calculated the annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per capita in Germany, specifically for the areas of housing, food, and mobility. Taken together, they amount to 6.5 tons of CO2 equivalents per year, which is more than twice as much as would be climate-friendly according to the Federal Environment Agency (namely one to three tons per person).
It is noticeable that emissions increase with income levels. This is mainly due to the higher mobility of high-income households. Flights are particularly significant: for example, an intra-European flight causes 0.5 tons of CO2 and a transcontinental flight 4.7 tons.
Further information
Frankfurter Rundschau: Reiche verursachen doppelt so viele Emissionen wie arme Haushalte
Image by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash …
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“Pandemic stress” and who it affects most
How is pandemic stress affecting people’s lives, and which population groups in particular suffer from it? The researcher Markus M. Grabka from the Socio-Economic Panel and his co-authors shed light on the areas of family, partnership, personal financial situation, mental well-being, leisure activities, as well as life, work, and school situation. The data comes from a joint study of “Living in Germany” and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
Pandemic-related psychosocial stress (PIPS, in short) generally has the greatest impact on social life and leisure activities. Women and younger people as well as people with low income and education have higher levels of stress. Thus, support measures during pandemics should be specifically aimed at these groups, according to the researchers.
Further information
Image by Alexandra_Koch on Pixabay …
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Survey of Ukrainian refugees
Data from the study “Living in Germany” show the following: Factors such as German language skills, educational qualifications, and intentions to stay significantly influence the employment opportunities of Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Among women, family obligations in particular have a negative impact on taking up employment: if both parents live together in Germany, the employment rate of mothers is around 10 percentage points lower than that of fathers – regardless of the age of the children. In families without children, on the other hand, women are more likely to be employed than men.
The employment rate for single parents among Ukrainian refugees is quite low overall due to the sometimes difficult reconciliation of employment and childcare. At the beginning of 2023, it was only between 10 and 15 percent. This is particularly significant for women, as over a third of them are single parents.
Further information
Graphic of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
image by Maxim Tolchinskiy from Unsplash …
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Residence regulation for refugees
Between 2015 and 2022, around 2.35 million refugees applied for asylum in Germany. In order to avoid overloading individual locations and promote integration, the so-called “residence regulation” was introduced in 2016: According to this, refugees must live in the first place they are assigned for three years.
Using data from the study “Living in Germany,” researchers have investigated the extent to which this regulation promotes the integration of refugees. The result: it does not work, ultimately hindering integration, particularly in the housing and labor market. In addition, it creates a high administrative burden for the responsible authorities.
Further information
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![Frau und Mann arbeiten gemeinsam am Laptop im Büro]()
People work more, but less hours
The average number of working hours has decreased in Germany. At the same time, the volume of work reached a record high in 2023 compared to the values since 1991, according to researchers from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) in Berlin. “The total volume of work has increased primarily because more and more women are employed,” says study author Mattis Beckmannshagen. However, the labor market potential of women is not being fully used. The study shows that, on average, women still perform significantly more care work than men and work fewer hours in a job.
Possible countermeasures could be reforms to income tax brackets and the splitting of spousal benefits, according to the authors of the study.
Further information
DIE ZEIT: In Deutschland wird so viel gearbeitet wie noch nie
Süddeutsche Zeitung: So viel arbeiten die Deutschen wirklich (for subscribers)
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![Kind sitzt vor Schulheft und lernt Schreiben]()
The effects of family break-ups
Both math and reading results fall when children no longer live with both parents, both at the end of elementary school and in lower secondary school. This is the result of data from the study “Living in Germany.” However, if we look at children’s entire lives and take into account their abilities before the change in family constellation, the unequal distribution of financial resources is more likely to play a role. According to the researchers, stronger support for family income should be considered in order to close the educational gap, especially during family transition phases.
Further information
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What type of support do refugees need?
Refugees who have come to Germany since 2013 generally have a high need for support services, especially when it comes to healthcare and language acquisition. This is shown by the analysis of data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
However, whether or not such services are used does not depend solely on whether they exist. Rather, there are numerous obstacles: Many refugees lack information about the offers. In addition to language barriers, a lack of knowledge of social norms as well as discrimination and stigmatization can also stand in the way Additionally, the higher the level of education and the more work experience someone has already gained in their home country, the more likely they are to make use of the existing support services.
Support with finding work and education and with asylum issues in particular is often not taken up. In addition, many services are only available to refugees with “positive prospects of staying,” which is why tolerated persons and people in ongoing asylum proceedings rarely receive help. Study author Ellen Heidinger advises: “Language and culturally sensitive services must be expanded to ensure access for all groups of people.”Further information
ZEIT Online: Integration: Asylbewerber und Flüchtlinge wollen mehr Hilfe
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![Arbeitsvertrag auf dem Kurzarbeit mit Textmarker hervorgehoben wird]()
Short-term work during the pandemic
What impact did short-time work have on employees during the coronavirus pandemic? One study comes to a clear conclusion: short-time work was an “effective instrument to contain the consequences of the economic slump on the labor market,” according to Clara Schäper, one of the authors of this study. Together with Katharina Wrohlich, she analyzed data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Between March 2020 and March 2021, an average of 3.6 million employees per month were on short-time work. A representative survey showed that women were sent on short-time work more often than men. Overall, however, inequality on the labor market did not increase. Those who were on short-time work in 2020 were on average no more likely to become unemployed in the following year than employees not affected by short-time work – regardless of whether they were men or women.
People without access to short-time work, especially “mini-jobbers” and the self-employed, were sometimes hit very hard by the economic impact of the pandemic.Further information
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kurzarbeit schadet der Karriere nicht (for subscribers)
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![Frau sitzt mit Tasse in der Hand und Kopfhörern zu Hause vor dem Computer]()
Reducing the risk of infection for all population groups
Researchers have found that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to have contracted the coronavirus. But does this also apply if they work from home? Researcher Markus M. Grabka and colleagues from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) analyzed data from a survey conducted with the Robert Koch Institute. They compared the risk of infection among people in Germany with lower and higher levels of education who work from home. The result: working from home reduces the risk of infection, especially among people with lower levels of education – an important finding for future pandemic prevention, according to the researchers.
Further information
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Hourly wages up 20 percent
How have the economic fluctuations of recent years affected German wages? An analysis of study data from “Living in Germany” shows that between 1995 and 2021, gross hourly wages rose by 16.5 percent, reaching an average of around 20.30 euros. A particularly large increase has been observed since 2013, especially among low wages jobs. This is partly due to the introduction of the general minimum wage and a change in the wage policy of the trade unions.
The positive development at the lower end of the wages has also contributed to the fact that wage inequality in Germany has fallen significantly since its peak in the 2000s.Further information
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![Frau steht mit dem Rücken zur Kamera am Strand und hält einen Kaffee in der Hand]()
Researching Loneliness
Prior to the pandemic, 14% of people living in Germany felt lonely at least every once in a while. This figure had risen to 42% in 2021. Before Covid, loneliness mainly affected people over the age of 75 years, women, people with a low income and low educational status, people with a migration background, and unemployed people. Today, loneliness is more widespread, affecting more and more young people and couples with children, among others. Social differences, such as income, play less of a role in the experience of loneliness than before.
“Living in Germany” provides the data for a broad initiative of the German government, the “Strategy against Loneliness.” The aim is to increase knowledge about loneliness, thus finding pathways to provide prevention and relief. Loneliness is associated with high health risks: If it persists over a longer period of time, it promotes both mental and physical illnesses. It leads to less life satisfaction and a lower general sense of well-being. People suffering from loneliness are more likely to have depression and sleep problems, alongside an increased risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, or heart attacks.
Further information
Kompetenznetzwerk Einsamkeit: Epidemiologie von Einsamkeit in Deutschland (pdf)
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend: Wissen zu Einsamkeit vertiefen
National Geographic: Die Vermessung der deutschen Einsamkeit
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Refugee employment rates are on the rise
The integration of refugees into the labor market is regularly examined using data from “Living in Germany”. A recent study took a closer look at people who came to Germany between 2013 and 2020. The result: by 2020, the proportion of people in employment had risen significantly – to 55% for men and 17% for women.
In addition, the proportion of those working as skilled workers increased, while the proportion of employees in unskilled jobs stagnated on average after three years. Increasingly, refugees are joining their company as skilled workers or switching to employment as skilled workers.
However, there are still major differences between the sexes. Refugee women still perform much more unpaid care work than men, which inhibits their entry into the labor market and their chances of advancement. In addition to childcare and housework, care work also includes repairs and errands. Researchers found that if both partners in a couple with a refugee background are employed, the division of care work is more equitable. The so-called “gender care gap” (i.e., the gap in care work) is smallest when the woman has a higher professional position than the man. It is also smaller if the woman works at least as many hours as her partner. “Employment is the engine of equality,” stresses Prof. Dr. Cornelia Kristen, researcher in the research area of migration and integration at the Socio-economic Panel and professor at the University of Bamberg.
Further information
SPIEGEL Online: Immer mehr Geflüchtete arbeiten
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Viele Unternehmen erkennen oft nicht die Fähigkeiten, die zugewanderte Menschen mitbringen (for subscribers)
Foto by Arlington Research on Unsplash …
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![Drei Frauen stehen gemeinsam und lachen.]()
Upward Trend in Mental Health
Between 2002 and 2020, the data show a general upward trend in mental health in Germany, in line with economic growth. Mental health declined significantly during the financial crisis of 2009 and the first year of COVID. When people fear job loss or economic crisis, their mental health clearly suffers.
Social inequalities also play a major role: women’s mental health was consistently worse than men’s. University graduates had better mental health than people without a university degree, and non-migrants had slightly better mental health than migrants.
„Politicians need to take this more fully into account in their decisions. The costs of poor mental health are enormous and widely underestimated,” says Dr. Daniel Graeber, author of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Further information
Foto by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 from Unsplash …
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Improved employment prospects
Refugee women have a much harder time on the German labor market than refugee men – although their chances have improved over the years. This is shown by a new evaluation of the study “Living in Germany,” for which protection seekers who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2019 were surveyed.
According to the study, the employment of refugee women has increased but remains low compared to men. While five percent of working-age women surveyed reported having a job in 2017, nearly 13 percent did so in 2020. “Women are slowed down by several factors,” says SOEP migration expert Adriana Cardozo, who analyzed the data. For example, they lack education and language skills. And traditional gender roles also played a role.
Encouragingly, however, the number of young women participating in educational programs has more than tripled over the years. The number of women with intermediate and good language skills is also growing steadily.
“Women with refugee experience can make a contribution to compensating for the labor shortage in Germany,” emphasizes Adriana Cardozo. The expansion of integration and language programs is a prerequisite, she said. These should be even better tailored to the needs of women, for example by offering childcare options.
Further information
Handelsblatt: Untersuchung: Fortschritte bei Arbeitsmarkt-Chancen geflüchteter Frauen
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