Guests Come To Stay

The Effects Of European Labor Migration On Sending And Receiving Countries

Rosemarie Rogers

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429711381
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Économie
• Subtopic: Économie du travail

This book analyzes the impact of thirty years of labor migration from the Mediterranean region and from Finland to western and northern continental Europe. The authors consider the effects on the host countries of the role foreign migrants play in host countries economies, the formation of new ethnic communities, choices made concerning the educati

Part One
The Migrants’ Role in the Economies, Societies, and Polities of the Receiving Countries

2
Labor Migration and the Employment of Foreigners in the Federal Republic of Germany Since 1950

Hermann Korte

For decades migration has been a concern of the social sciences, and there have been several attempts to transform the empirical results into general explanations based on a theory of migration (Hoffmann-Nowotny, 1970). Most of these partial theories have been ineffective, however, because of a lack of representative empirical data and because it was not adequately recognized that the explanations would have to be formulated within the framework of a comprehensive theory of society (Esser, 1980). It may be useful, therefore, to make a few preliminary remarks about the importance of the empirical material upon which this chapter is based.

Until the mid-l970s, although there were numerous studies dealing with various individual problems of labor migration and the employment of foreign workers in the Federal Republic (Kleinhans and Korte, 1979), a comprehensive analysis was not available. However, this gap has been closed by an integrated research program, “Problems of the Employment of Foreign Workers,” which was established in 1975 by the Federal Secretary for Research and Technology and for which I was the coordinator.

In this program the situation of a representative sample of five groups of foreigners living in West Germany (Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Turks, and Yugoslavs) was studied: their living and working conditions, their own evaluation of their position in German society, and their plans for the future. In order to understand the specific conditions of the foreigners better, a German control group was studied as well. These data allow the researcher to undertake an interdisciplinary, structural analysis of the foreigners’ political and economic situation, and they form a basis for discussion of the need for various policy alternatives and of their feasibility. A final report was submitted to the government (Forschungsverbund, 1979). In addition, a series of studies has been published (Gaugler and Weber, 1978; Esser et al., 1979; Martin, 1980; Kremer and Spangenbeg, 1980; Esser, 1980; see also the synthesis and overview in Korte and Schmidt, 1983).

This chapter is divided into four parts. The first section discusses the quantitative development of labor migration in the Federal Republic, while the second section examines the situation of foreign workers in the German labor market. The third section describes the ongoing debate concerning the consequences of foreign worker employment for the German economy, and the fourth section is devoted to an analysis of important present-day problems arising from the presence of foreign workers and their families in the Federal Republic.

The Development of Labor Migration to the Federal Republic since 1950

In the patterns of growth of foreign worker employment in the Federal Republic of Germany, as shown in Table 2-1, there are indications of an underlying structure. The number of foreigners working in the country doubled between 1959 and 1960; before then only slight increases were noted. The increase was mainly accounted for by Italians, whose number actually tripled between 1959 and 1960. Until 1966 the total number of foreign workers climbed rapidly; it then sank by about 400,000 in one year (from 1966 to 1967), followed by an increase of about 1.5 million over the next six years, to a high of 2,595,000 in 1973. Thereafter the number of foreigners in the labor force decreased slowly but steadily from year to year, with some fluctuations between 1978 and 1982, In this context it is worth noting that the number of Turks, who by 1972 constituted the largest group, decreased proportionately to a much smaller extent than the overall number of employed foreign workers.

In looking at the total number of foreign residents, it is striking that this number fluctuated only slightly, around 4 million, between 1973 and 1979, after which year began a new increase. A more precise interpretation of this development can be gained by examtntng the significance of the Turkish migrant population. Table 2-1 shows that the total number of migrants from the other sending countries decreased between 1974 and 1982, with only that of the Turks increasing. For a differentiated interpretation of this development it would be profitable to examine the years before 1961 as well as the years 1967 and 1973 and the time thereafter.

Between 1950 and 1960 the productivity of the West German economy rose by an average of 6.7 percent annually. The first half of this period was characterized by widespread unemployment. In 1955 there were over 1 million unemployed, although by 1958 this figure had dropped to 800,000 (Table 2-2). Only after 1958 did the number of unemployed people decrease rapidly, and within three years it reached a level that could be considered equivalent to full employment. After a long “warm-up” period, this was the actual phase of recovery, the clear start of the West German Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle).

The high unemployment rates observed until the late 1950s, however, should not conceal the fact that the group of men then 30 to 60 years old had been severely decimated during World War II. This gap was partially closed by immigrants from the German Democratic Republic: between 1950 and 1961 more than 3.5 million people crossed the border into West Germany. Since there was, however, also substantial emigration, an immigration surplus of only about 1 million people remained for this period.

The immigration of workers from countries around the Mediterranean began to a significant extent after 1958. The few Italians who had come to Germany since the mid-1950s had worked mostly in agriculture. Beginning with the rapid reduction of unemployment, however, the numbers of migrant workers increased. Between 1958 and 1961, the period during which full employment was reached, the number of foreign workers quadrupled.

When the Berlin Wall was erected on 13 August 1961, with a continuous blockade being set up a few months later along the entire border between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, the influx from the German Democratic Republic came to a halt. Whereas during the first seven and one-half months of 1961, 233,000 people still had succeeded in fleeing East Germany, this number sank to only 15,000 in 1962, and has fluctuated from then until now at around 20,000 per year. Because of this situation, it is obvious that the already increasing demand for workers from other sending countries could grow only further.

In October 1961 a recruitment agreement was concluded with Turkey. An agreement with Greece had, been reached in 1960 and was renewed in the spring of 1962. Between 1961 and 1966 the total number of foreign workers increased continually, reaching 1.3 million in 1966. From the five most important recruiting countries, Italy, Spain, and Greece sent the largest contingents. In 1966 only Yugoslavia ranked behind Turkey in the number of its citizens working in Germany. The rate of Turkish immigration first increased after 1968, and since 1972 the Turks have constituted the largest group of foreign residents in the Federal Republic.

Even if the unemployment rate cannot be considered as an absolute indicator of economic development, the

Table 2-1 Foreigners Residing in the Federal Republic of Germany (including West Berlin), by Country of Citizenship and Employment Status, 1950–1982 (In Thousands)

Table 2-2 Unemployed German and Foreign Citizens in the Federal Republic of Germany, 1955–1982

Year	Germans	Foreigners	All Unemployed
1955	.........	.........	1,102,300
1956	.........	.........	.........
1957	.........	.........	.........
1958	.........	.........	800,200
1959	.........	.........	455,150
1960	.........	.........	214,300
1961	.........	.........	180,000
1962	153,082	1,441	154,523
1963	183,735	1,911	185,646
1964	194,350	1,720	196,070
1965	145,543	1,809	147,352
1966	155,850	5,209	161,059
1967	444,611	14,875	459,486
1968	317,547	5,933	323,480
1969	175,271	3,308	178,579
1970	143,844	5,002	148,846
1971	173,295	11,777	185,072
1972	229,405	17,028	246,433
1973	253,748	19,750	273,498
1974	513,353	69,128	582,481
1975	922,724	151,493	1,074,217
1976	953,942	106,394	1,060,336
1977	932,303	97,692	1,029,995
1978	889,424	103,524	992,948
1979	782,638	93,499	876,137
1980	781,480	107,420	888,900
1981	1,103,082	168,492	1,271,574
1982	1,587,534	245,710	1,833,244

SOURCES: Bundesanstalt für Arbeit, Anatliche Nachrichten (1975); Statistisches Jahrbuch für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (1963, 1978, 1983).

NOTE: The 1955–1960 figures, and the 1962–1967 figures for foreigners, are averages computed from the March, June, September, and December figures for a given year. All other figures are twelve-months averages.

sudden increase in unemployment in 1967 at least suggests that difficulties had arisen after the years of economic boom (Table 2-2). The rising rate of unemployment led to an almost synchronic decrease in the number of foreign workers. In 1968, as the crisis of 1966–1967 was overcome, the number of migrant workers immediately increased by 50 percent, to a level considerably higher than that of 1966.

The number of foreign workers increased steadily from then on and reached a high point of 2.595 million in 1973. After the unemployment rates for the German labor force had already risen slightly in 1971 and 1972, in 1973 the first signs of difficulty for labor policy appeared, which became fully evident in the following years (see Table 2-2). Because of this situation, the federal government ordered a stop in recruitment in November 1973 for workers from non-Common Market countries. Although the recruitment agreements are still in force, the referral agencies of the Federal Institute of Labor have been closed in the recruitment countries as a consequence of these measures. The number of workers from these countries has actually decreased since then, but the fact that the total number of foreign residents has not decreased is due to the arrival of family members of the migrant workers who have stayed on. In particular, this phenomenon of family reunification has led to a considerable increase in the Turkish migrant population. More recently, slight increases have been noted in the Italian population since 1976 and in the Yugoslav population since 1978. This development can be easily traced in Table 2-1.

As suggested, the stability of the total number of foreign migrants, at the same time as foreign workers were leaving the labor force, can be explained by the fact that the recruitment stop did not affect the immigration of family members of migrant workers already living in the Federal Republic. Workers who were planning to stay longer in Germany continued to bring in their families without any difficulty. This tendency was further supported, although certainly without a conscious intention to do so, by a political decision concerning the conditions under which foreign workers could obtain financial aid for their children (Kindergeld).

Financial aid for children is dependent on the territorial principle as are all other social benefits (social insurance, unemployment insurance, etc.) -- which means that these benefits cannot be used abroad. There are, however, some exceptions. Migrants from European Economic Community (EEC) countries were eligible to receive Kindergeld for children living in their native country. OWing to special bilateral agreements, this option existed also for Greek, Yugoslav, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish workers. Beginning in September 1970, the amount of monthly aid for the second child was 25 German marks; for the third and fourth child it was OM 60; and OM 70 was paid for the fifth and for each additional child. Since 1 January 1975, however, differential rates have come into effect: as part of an income tax reform, Kindergeld for children living in West Germany was raised considerably. There is now monthly aid also for the first child (OM 50); the aid for the second child was raised to DM 70; and that for the third and for each additi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• INTRODUCTION
• PART ONE THE MIGRANTS’ ROLE IN THE ECONOMIES, SOCIETIES, AND POLITIES OF THE RECEIVING COUNTRIES
• PART TWO THE SECOND GENERATION OF MIGRANTS
• PART THREE THE MIGRANTS’ EFFECTS ON THE SENDING COUNTRIES
• CONCLUSIONS
• Bibliography
• About the Authors
• Index