ABSTRACT
German migrants have unlimited access to the labour market and to other forms of specific assistance to promote their integration into the workplace, and are also able to claim all welfare benefits to the full extent. To regulate immigration and protect German workers in the labour market, a dual permit procedure for residence and employment was established. On the issue of poverty among German migrants, the Report provides very little information, ascribing this to the poor availability of data. Among migrants from Italy, Spain and Greece, the frequency of poverty was rather lower. Nonetheless, more than 40 per cent of them spent at least one year, and almost twenty per cent of them three or more years, in poverty. Many of the immigrants settled permanently, their families joined them, and 'foreigners' became an integral feature of West German society. The average unemployment rate among ethnic German immigrants in 1998 is estimated to have stood at over 20 per cent.
