Income - East-West wage gap: Left party wants "East summit"
The left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag has called for an "East Summit" in view of the continuing wage differences between East and West Germany. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) must take up the matter, parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. "The issue of wage harmonization must urgently become a top priority if the frustration in the East is not to boil over." East German employees are still second-class workers in many areas.
According to the remuneration statistics of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), the average gross monthly salary of full-time employees subject to social security contributions in eastern Germany was almost 600 euros lower than in western Germany at the end of 2022. The so-called median salary was 3752 euros in the old federal states and 3157 euros in the new federal states.
Significant differences in districts and independent cities
From the BA's point of view, the reasons for the sometimes considerable differences are likely to include company size and industry structure as well as collective bargaining coverage. At 30.5 percent, the proportion of employees in companies with 250 or more employees in relation to all employees was lower in eastern Germany than in the west (37.3 percent). Collective bargaining coverage in the east is also significantly lower.
At state level, according to the BA statistics, the range in western Germany was from 4127 euros in Hamburg to 3385 euros in Schleswig-Holstein and in eastern Germany from 3806 euros in Berlin to 2935 euros in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Differences were even more pronounced in districts and independent cities: The highest median salary was achieved in Ingolstadt in Bavaria (5282 euros), the lowest in the Saxon district of Görlitz (2650).
According to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office in the summer, employees in eastern Germany earned an average of 13,000 euros less per year than their colleagues in the west. The average gross annual salary for full-time employees in the west was therefore 58,085 euros in 2022, compared to 45,070 euros in the east. This is also due to special payments, which are almost twice as high on average in the West and have recently risen faster than in the East.
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- Dietmar Bartsch, the leader of The Left group in the Bundestag, emphasized the necessity for Olaf Scholz (SPD) to address the ongoing wage disparity between East and West Germany.
- The issue of 'equal pay' has become a pressing concern for The Left, as they believe that the frustration in the East may escalate if wage harmonization isn't prioritized.
- Funke Media Group reported Bartsch's call for an "East Summit," highlighting the need for action to bridge the income gap between eastern and western Germany.
- According to the Federal Employment Agency (BA), the average income for full-time employees in eastern Germany was significantly lower than in western Germany towards the end of 2022.
- The Left fraction in the Bundestag is advocating for policies to address the wage difference between the old and new federal states, aiming to improve income equality.
- The median salary in western Germany was 3752 euros, while it was 3157 euros in eastern Germany, emphasizing the persisting income disparity between the two regions.
- The Funke Media Group reported that significant differences in wages exist between districts and independent cities, further underscoring the need for policy intervention to close the income gap.
- Olaf Scholz, the Federal Chancellor, was urged by Dietmar Bartsch to take action against the East-West wage gap, focusing on closing the income inequality in Germany.
- The Federal Statistical Office revealed that employees in eastern Germany earned on average 13,000 euros less per year than their western counterparts in 2022, shedding light on the substantial income disparity between the regions.
Source: www.stern.de
