Fewer people in Germany receive social security - the number has fallen by 5.1 percent compared to the previous year. According to the Federal Statistical Office, by the end of 2018 there were about 7.2 million people. In the previous year there were still 7.6 million.
The transfer benefits of the social minimum income support systems include different types of assistance:
- Unemployment benefit II ("Hartz IV") received nearly 5.6 million people by the end of 2018 - 5.7 percent less than in the previous year.
- Asylum seekers received approximately 411,000 people. That is 12.2 percent less than in the previous year.
- Livelihoods outside of facilities related just under 121,000 people - 4.3 percent less than last year.
- On the other hand, the number of people with basic benefits in old age and reduced earning capacity increased to 1.1 million, an increase of 1.9 percent.
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In particular, expenditure on asylum seekers fell sharply. According to the statisticians, this is due, on the one hand, to the declining number of asylum applications, and on the other to the high number of decided asylum procedures. The number of recipients of minimum security benefits in the new federal states, including Berlin, also fell disproportionately high. She went back seven percent.
"Measured by the total population, the share of benefit recipients decreased from 9.2 percent at the end of 2017 to 8.7 percent at the end of 2018," the Federal Statistical Office said. The share thus fell for the third year in a row.
This is also due to the continued good situation on the job market. Around 700,000 new jobs subject to social security contributions are expected to be created in 2019 - but the job boom could be over in the coming year.