Arbeit Macht Frei: 2 Million Immigrants on Long-Term Welfare Benefits in Germany

Diversity Macht Frei
October 7, 2017

The number of foreign Hartz-IV recipients [these are benefits for the long-term unemployed] sharply increased last year. At the end of June,  1,997,519 foreigners in Germany received the social benefits. This is an increase of 25.6% from the previous year, reported the Bild newspaper, citing the Bundesagentur für Arbeit [Federal Agency for Labour].

Of these around 1.49 million were capable of work, their number increasing by 20%, and more than 507,292 were not capable of work, their number increasing by almost 45%. According to the report, one quarter of Hartz-IV recipients come from Syria.

Most of these came to Germany during the refugee crisis and are now appearing in the statistics for the first time. Their numbers grew by 93% compared to the previous year. Next came Turks (270,000) and Iraqis (130,000).

An assessment by the agency in July of this year indicated that one out of every two unemployed persons in west Germany is of immigrant origin,

Source: Junge Freiheit

This is like an entire country living at the expense of German taxpayers. There are lots of small countries around with populations in the 4-5 million range (Norway, Denmark, etc.). As a general rule of thumb, the workforce is around half of the total population because of children, students, retired people, etc. So for 2 million foreigners to be living on long term benefits is as if Germany was paying for the livelihood of an entire small foreign country. Imagine if Danes or Norwegians didn’t have to do any work because Germans paid for their upkeep.