ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the quantitative development of labor migration in the Federal Republic and examines the situation of foreign workers in the German labor market. It describes the ongoing debate concerning the consequences of foreign worker employment for the German economy and analyzes important problems arising from the presence of foreign workers and their families in the Federal Republic. The percentages of foreigners engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishing, utilities, water supply, and mining were cut in half, and the percentage of foreigners engaged in construction work was also reduced, while service employment remained at about the same level. The recruitment stop of 1973 and the regulation of Kindergeld in 1975, with the effects, mark the beginning of a new phase in the history of labor migration to Germany. A comparison of the socioeconomic conditions in their native countries with those in West Germany influenced an ever-increasing number of migrants to delay a potential return home and to prolong their stay.