AfD MP René Springer reported that 483 197 Ukrainian war refugees are receiving a civic benefit in Germany. In February 2026, over 325 1000 Ukrainians had a occupation covered by contributions, and 52 1000 worked casually. The dispute over the 27.1 or 35 percent ratio reveals the costly weakness of the German integration model.
AfD calculation and office response
René Springer, a Bundestag MP and president of the AfD in Brandenburg, considered the national Programme for bringing refugees from Ukraine to the labour marketplace a failure. In an interview with the "Bild" journal, he referred to government data, according to which 483 197 war refugees claimed a civic benefit. This is basic aid for people who are able to work, who are either unemployed or gain besides small to support.
Springer calculated that 27.1% of Ukrainians came after the start of a full-scale war. The national employment Agency questioned the consequence thus presented. The politician did not include 51,978 Ukrainian citizens employed in Germany before the Russian invasion. The authoritative rate for Ukrainians doing the work covered by contributions is little than 35 percent.
This correction matters. You can't build a political thesis on the incorrect denominator. However, it does not remove the fundamental problem: a country with immense social spending and extended administration is inactive achieving weaker results than those countries that have sent refugees to work faster.
Germany far behind Poland
By OECD study on the employment of displaced persons from Ukraine 31 percent of Ukrainian refugees surviving in Germany worked in 2024. In Poland it was 78 percent, in Lithuania 72% and in the UK 69 percent. The difference is striking.
It should be pointed out reasonably that national statistic are not counted identically. any countries cover all forms of work, other, in particular, the employment to which contributions are made. The OECD itself indicates this methodological difference. However, the scale of the German hold remains besides large to bring it only to the calculation method.
A newer survey shows improvement over time. The Labour marketplace and Professional investigation Institute combined survey data with employment records and determined that about half of the refugees from the first wave worked after 3 and a half years of stay. Integration progressed, but its beginning was clearly slow. This is an crucial distinction: the strategy does not stand still, but besides long finances the waiting period alternatively of shortening the way to independence.
Benefits, language and skills lost
In 2026, the basic benefit rate for a single individual was EUR 563 per period and the state besides covered reasonable costs of housing and heating. In 2024, the basic safety for Ukrainian citizens cost Germany about €6.3 billion. Helping people fleeing the Russian war is the work of a civilized state. However, the structure of the aid must lead towards work alternatively than make a trap in which rising earnings is eaten by failure of benefits.
According to the "Bild" studies, the fear of failure of benefits was the most frequently reported reason for work without registration. The German model besides focuses first on language and integration courses and then on employment. There are difficulties in recognising qualifications, deficiency of childcare and weaker labour marketplace conditions. Most refugees are women, frequently mothers. This must not be overlooked if the evaluation is to be honest.
Berlin began to tighten its approach. In the wider direction of change, discussion on conditions for further protection of Ukrainians in Germany. The State has the right to require professional activity from those able to work, but should besides remove its own barriers: the chronic designation of diplomas, the queue for childcare and the penal strategy for taking extra classes.
Lesson for Poland: aid should strengthen independence
The Polish consequence 78 percent shows that fast entry into the labour marketplace is possible. This does not mean agreeing to undeclared work, wage dumping or the indefinitely maintaining peculiar privileges. The assistance should be transparent, temporary and linked to real activity, while maintaining protection for children, the sick and people who are actually dependent.
The debate is besides ongoing here, as evidenced by disputes between Poles about employment and the rules of residence of Ukrainian citizens. Poland should not copy the German social trap. The stakes are taxpayers' money, honesty towards working families and social peace. A liable politician helps a man to stand on his own feet. A strategy that pays for idleness or blocks bureaucracy harms hosts and visitors.
Source: Interia Events"Bild," OECD, IAB
Source: Interia Events
