In Germany, refugees receive the most benefits, which is why they have no particular incentive to work. And what about France, Poland and Denmark?
Germany offers the best conditions for asylum seekers, according to a comparative analysis prepared by ARD. The data show that in the Federal Republic they receive 441 euros per month, of which 196 euros is pocket money and 245 euros for basic necessities such as food.
Asylum seekers in France also receive 440 euros per month if they are not accommodated in a camp. Otherwise, the state supports them with 210 euros. In Denmark, 236 euros are added to the accommodation fee, while in Poland, asylum seekers only receive accommodation and food - no financial assistance.
In Germany, asylum seekers with approved applications receive social assistance - the so-called Bürgergeld. The standard rate is currently 563 euros per person, plus the costs of housing, heating and compulsory health insurance. In France, persons with recognized refugee status receive a similar benefit - Revenu de solidarité active (RSA), but without rental assistance. In Denmark, the amount of the benefit is 882 euros, including rent. Poland pays the least - about 160 euros.
Germany also provides the best conditions for rejected asylum seekers, writes the German public-law media. At the end of 2024, there were about 221,000 foreigners in Germany who were in principle obliged to leave the country, but 179,000 were "tolerated" - i.e. they are tolerated and do not have to leave. After 36 months, Germany provides rejected asylum seekers with tolerated stays with benefits similar to those of German social welfare recipients: Bürgergeld, housing and heating benefits and compulsory health insurance, ARD recalls. In France, rejected persons immediately lose benefits - there is no concept of tolerated stay there.
In Denmark - only food and accommodation in a deportation camp
While around 250,000 asylum applications were submitted in Germany last year, only around 2,300 people applied in Denmark during the same period, of which only 860 were granted asylum. The reason for this is the strict asylum policy of the government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, ARD points out.
But most importantly, asylum in Denmark is limited in time. This means that migrants can lose their residence permit even after many years in Denmark if the authorities decide that the conditions are met for their return to their homeland.
The situation with rejected asylum seekers in Denmark is similar to that in France. "After an asylum application is rejected, one must voluntarily participate in the preparation for returning to one's homeland in order to continue receiving financial assistance", explains the German media's correspondent in Copenhagen. "Those who refuse to return are stopped from receiving their money and sent to a deportation camp, where they are only entitled to clothing and food. They are also deprived of the opportunity to study or work," adds the German public-law media outlet.
What is the situation with refugees from Ukraine?
In principle, the legal requirements for refugees from Ukraine in all EU countries are similar: they can live in the host country without an asylum procedure, are integrated into the health and social system and are allowed to start working immediately.
According to a recent study by the "Bertelsmann" Foundation, however, only 30 percent of people of working age with a Ukrainian passport worked in Germany last year. In the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, this figure reaches 56 percent, and in Poland and the Czech Republic it even exceeds 60 percent.
According to Dietrich Trenhard, author of the study, the German strategy of using language and integration courses to provide refugees with jobs has failed. There are two reasons for this: First, attending these courses takes too much time, and secondly (and this is the main reason), too few professional qualifications have been recognised so far: "This prevents refugees from working in their professions as doctors, teachers, pharmacists or others, regardless of whether they have already learned German or not".
Poland: great financial pressure and little bureaucracy
Along with Germany, Poland is one of the main countries hosting Ukrainian refugees. The priority there is not learning the language, but integration into the labor market. According to Christine Joachim from the ARD studio in Warsaw, one of the main reasons why refugees in Poland find work faster than in Germany is that the financial pressure is greater. "Because there is almost no financial support from the Polish state or it is limited in time." In addition, professional qualifications are recognized in Poland faster and with less bureaucracy than in Germany.
Another thing is obvious: in Poland, the bureaucracy for starting a business is less. By the end of 2022, Ukrainians in Poland had already founded 10,000 companies - hairdressing salons, beauty salons, repair and construction companies, as well as software companies. For example, 28-year-old Lera Ruma, who has been in Warsaw for three years, opened her first beauty salon just two months after arriving. She now has three salons and more than 100 employees, ARD reports.
She did not apply for financial assistance, but she was able to start over quickly and without bureaucracy. "I could have gone to Germany and lived on welfare, but I like it much better in Poland", says the young entrepreneur.
One of the results of the rapid integration into the labor market: by 2023, the Polish state had already collected more taxes from refugees from Ukraine than it spent on them.
Easier recognition of professional qualifications
The domestic policy spokesman for the CDU-CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Trom, told ARD that those who were obliged to leave the country, which in his opinion also includes tolerated persons, should no longer receive any state benefits, except "a bed, bread and soap". The procedures for recognizing professions should also be simplified, and newly arrived Ukrainians fleeing the war should first receive benefits as asylum seekers, and not directly social benefits, he is categorical. Those who work quickly integrate better and learn German at work, even without a long language course beforehand, adds the representative of the conservatives, who are expected to lead the country's new coalition government.
Their presumed partner in power - the German Social Democrats - have similar views. Their parliamentary group spokesman for domestic policy, Sebastian Hartmann, has called for existing professional qualifications to be recognized more easily in the future than is currently the case: "The main priority should be for everyone who can work to quickly find a suitable job".