Overview
- A new Hans-Böckler-Stiftung/WSI study published on Tuesday finds that, on average, a full-time minimum-wage worker has about €623 more per month than a person on Grundsicherung and a single parent with one five-year-old has about €757 more.
- The study’s district-level analysis shows that the extra income for workers often depends on supplementary transfers such as Wohngeld, Kinderzuschlag and Unterhaltsvorschuss rather than wages alone.
- Many eligible people do not claim those top-up benefits, so the study’s theoretical advantage from work may not materialize in practice for a sizable share of low-income households.
- Regional housing costs shape the gap: high rents in cities like Munich and Frankfurt shrink the wage–welfare difference because Grundsicherung pays local accommodation costs for benefit recipients.
- Policy changes matter next: the move from Bürgergeld to a tighter Grundsicherung did not change the basic result, but the coalition’s planned cuts to housing and maintenance supplements could narrow the advantage from working and hit families hardest.