Advertisement

New immigrants are younger, more skilled

Author thumbnail
New immigrants are younger, more skilled
Photo: DPA

Germany is able to attract immigrants who are both younger and better qualified than the majority of its own citizens, a report released on Friday by the German Foundation for Integration and Migration, showed.

Advertisement

In the first half of last year some two-thirds of immigrants came from other European Union nations and these newcomers were younger and had more credentials than many Germans.

“Germany has changed from a land of emigration to a country of immigration, said Christine Langenfeld, the chairwoman of the foundation’s expert council that put together the report.

The trend that middle to highly qualified people leave Germany and lower skilled workers immigrate has stopped, she added.

Fears that so-called “tourism among poor people” in which residents of less well off EU countries would move to Germany for the country’s social welfare benefits have not materialized, the report said.

More than 70 percent of Bulgarians or Romanians who moved to Germany after 2007 and are between 25 and 44 have a job.

“Poverty immigration so far the exception, not the rule,” Langenfeld added.

DPA/The Local/mw

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also