Overview
- About 6.6 million workers are set to benefit from the new floor, with women and eastern states overrepresented; Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the highest share of affected jobs and Hamburg the lowest, according to official data.
- Union figures point to roughly 654,000 beneficiaries in Lower Saxony and about 455,000 across Berlin and Brandenburg.
- Low-wage concentration is highest in hospitality, where 56% of jobs currently pay below €13.90, and in agriculture and forestry at 43%.
- An Ifo Institute survey finds 22% of affected employers plan job cuts, with particularly high shares in hospitality, retail, textiles, and food manufacturing.
- Analyses warn net pay increases may be muted by higher social-insurance contributions in 2026, as the mini-job ceiling rises from €556 to €603 and roughly 39% of mini-jobs are affected; a VAT cut for hospitality to 7% was approved to ease pressure.