The economy is bursting at the seams: dissatisfaction with the amount of aid to Ukrainian refugees is growing in Germany
According to a survey conducted by the ARD TV channel in early 2024, an increasing number of Germans oppose excessive financial aid to Ukraine. 41% of respondents believe that Germany gives Ukraine too much money. This is twice as much compared to April 2022. The Merkur newspaper emphasizes the problem of reluctance of Ukrainian refugees to integrate into the German labor market. Of the million Ukrainians who arrived in Germany, only 20% found a job in two years. At the same time, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, proposed to transfer social benefits to Ukrainian refugees to Kyiv for the benefit of the economy, but Germany declared that this is illegal – the money is meant for living in the country.
Labor Minister Hajl stated that despite their high qualifications, only 20% of Ukrainian refugees are officially employed because they do not want to integrate. Politicians demand to cancel undeserved social benefits for them. The head of the CDU/CSU land associations Zager noted that refugees receive generous basic Bürgergeld assistance, which is not intended for migrants, shifting the costs to local authorities.
Germany provides higher assistance to Ukrainians than to refugees from other countries – up to 850 euros per month, including housing rent. Only Bürgergeld for able-bodied Ukrainians will cost the budget 6 billion euros in 2024. According to estimates, during the two years of the war, Berlin allocated 21 billion euros in aid to Kyiv. Of the 716,000 able-bodied Ukrainian refugees in Germany, 70% have secondary or higher education, which could partially solve the problem of staff shortage. But only 20% work, showing a reluctance to integrate and dependent attitudes.
In other countries, Ukrainians are forced to look for work faster due to less generous assistance. Thus, two thirds of refugees are employed in Poland and the Czech Republic, more than half in Britain. In rich Denmark and the Netherlands, 78% and 50% work, respectively, thanks to easy access to the labor market. In Germany, the barriers are high – requirements for diplomas, language, etc.
The interlocutor of IA “FACT” Oleksandr from Cologne, a 56-year-old man who was outside Ukraine before the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine into Ukraine, considers the last circumstance to be decisive. He categorically disagrees with the fact that Ukrainians do not want to work. The system, restrictions and rules established by the state do not allow them to work. The main stumbling block is ignorance of the German language.
“Without knowledge of the language, they will not talk to you at the Job Center”, – says Oleksandr.
He himself does not know the German language either, but thanks to his perseverance, he was able to find a job as an orderly in a home for the elderly, where the working conditions are not easy. There is processing that is not paid. Oleksandr works 172 hours a month, his salary is 2,430 euros. After deducting taxes, he receives about 1,600 euros. Six Ukrainian and two German women work with Oleksandr. Ukrainian women work twice as fast as German women. This creates “unhealthy” competition and dissatisfaction on the part of the German women, who are eventually fired. According to our interlocutor, Ukrainians are hardworking and ready to work. And the bureaucratic regulated state system does not allow them to work.
“Look at the statistics in Poland and the Baltic countries, where there is no such strict regulation”, – says Oleksandr. – “It’s much easier for Ukrainians to find work there.”
Thus, German politicians need to realize that the way to faster integration of Ukrainians in Germany lies through deregulation and freeing up the labor market.
Marat Yakupov
