The federal government’s planned reduction in support for some of the Ukrainian refugees in Germany has met with criticism from scientists. “The cuts in benefits for refugees will make it more difficult for them to integrate into the labor market and thus increase costs for the German state in the medium term,” said the President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Marcel Fratzscher, to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
The so-called change of jurisdiction for Ukrainian refugees “is likely to prove counterproductive,” said the economist. Their integration into the German labor market is “on the whole” a success.
The black-red coalition plans that Ukrainians who came to Germany after April 1, 2025 will no longer receive citizen’s benefit or basic security in the future, but only the significantly lower asylum seeker benefits. This means that the job centers would no longer be responsible for them, but rather local authorities and employment agencies.
The corresponding draft law is to be discussed in the Bundestag this Thursday.
More difficult integration into the labor market expected
“In the job center, people receive advice and targeted support to find a job. This coordinated support is particularly important for new immigrants,” said Yuliya Kosyakova from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) to the newspaper. More negative effects are to be expected from the new regulation. “This calls a previously successful model into question,” said the labor market expert.
Kosyakova heads the research area migration, integration and international labor market research at the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research at the Federal Employment Agency (IAB) in Nuremberg.
