Knowledge of German is crucial for the salary of migrants

With the same knowledge of German and the same level of education, the wages of migrants and Germans hardly differ. This is confirmed by an investigation by the Cologne Institute of German Business (IW), which was published on Monday. Good knowledge of German is thus a fundamental requirement for migrants to be successful in the labor market, says the study. "Language acquisition is the key to successful integration into the German labor market," said Wido Geis-Thöne, author of the study.

Immigrants and natives, who speak German at the same level and have a high level of education, receive the same salary. The study author therefore recommends further improving the quality of integration courses and giving all immigrants access. In addition, the provision of further language courses should be expanded and the contact with native speakers relevant to language skills should be promoted.

Highly qualified immigrants even performed better in the German tests than poorly educated persons without a migration background - and accordingly earned more. Locals, too, need education to improve their language skills, the study said.

Scientist Geis-Thöne analyzed three different data sets for the study: the National Education Panel, the PIAAC study and the socio-economic panel. All three examinations ask both the German language skills and the wages of the participants.

Overall, the unemployment rate among immigrants is still significantly higher. Almost every second of the 2.3 million unemployed in Germany has a migrant background. According to the study of the IW, the higher level of immigration of immigrants is to a significant extent attributable to their overall lower language level.