Germans leaving country to escape unemployment

Hmmm…more coming to the island?

[quote]Germans leaving country to escape unemployment
Reuters, 30 Dec 05, Erik Kirschbaum

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans are leaving their country in record numbers but unlike previous waves of migrants who fled 19th century poverty or 1930s Nazi terror, these modern day refugees are trying to escape a new scourge – unemployment.

Flocking to places as far away as the United States, Canada and Australia as well as Norway, the Netherlands and Austria more than 150,000 Germans packed their bags and left in 2004 – the greatest exodus in any single year since the late 1940s.

High unemployment that lingers at levels of more than 20 percent in some parts of Germany and dim prospects for any improvement are the key factors behind the migration. In the 15 years since German unification more than 1.8 million Germans have left.b[/b]
news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051230/lf_ … igrants_dc[/quote]

What took them so long? Unemployment has been high forever in Germany.

Things must be bad in Germany if Canada is a step up for them.

In Canada, university graduates are working for minimum wage for Christ’s sake. I’m just glad I was able to escape that poverty trap.

According to my college’s own statistics, two years after graduation only 57% of the Class of '03 were employed, and less than half of those were employed in their field of study. A stunning 25% success rate!

WOOT! :canada:

And yet the prevailing attitude back home is that anyone not happy with this doesn’t love their country :loco:

Things really didn’t get bad in Germany untill they reunited with East Germany.

According to migrationinformation.org

12,976 emigrated from Germany to the USA in 2004 while
15,557 Americans emigrated from USA to Germany.

The total inflow of immigrants to Germany was 601,759 in 2003 compare to +/-1million annual immigrants to the USA.
In this case, size for size, Germany seems more of an immigrant nation.

So prepare for more Bob_Honests :smiley:

Ever wondered why I am here? :wink:

Not to mention the high taxes over there, and more to come thanks to our new government. :raspberry:

Ah, quit yer whining. At least your high taxes are going towards something quasi-useful – a social safety net for the out-of-work.

We Americans really have something to gripe about. We’re watching our nation being turned into a beggar state in order to pay for the privilege of being the world’s policeman.

[quote=“spook”]Ah, quit yer whining. At least your high taxes are going towards something quasi-useful – a social safety net for the out-of-work.
[/quote]

Yeah, why are they leaving to look for work? I thought the German government pays the “unemployed” pretty well for not working. :s

Well, unemployment payment has been cut and will be cut more. Under 50-something you now get only 1 year unemployment money. Sounds a lot, but sounds scary in a country where it was 5 years or so before…

[quote=“spook”]Ah, quit yer whining. At least your high taxes are going towards something quasi-useful – a social safety net for the out-of-work.

We Americans really have something to gripe about. We’re watching our nation being turned into a beggar state in order to pay for the privilege of being the world’s policeman.[/quote]No. We are not “watching” that happen.

[quote]We Americans really have something to gripe about. We’re watching our nation being turned into a beggar state in order to pay for the privilege of being the world’s policeman.
[/quote]

Protecting your interests. You can choose not to.

As long as the Germans don’t sneak out at 4 o’clock in the morning and put their towels on MY spot by the swimming pool I don’t care where they go.

[color=#DEE3E7]
TASH
[/color]

[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“spook”]Ah, quit yer whining. At least your high taxes are going towards something quasi-useful – a social safety net for the out-of-work.

We Americans really have something to gripe about. We’re watching our nation being turned into a beggar state in order to pay for the privilege of being the world’s policeman.[/quote]No. We are not “watching” that happen.[/quote]

Well, some of us are:

"As time passes, and as claims against us grow, we own less and less of what we produce. In effect, the rest of the world enjoys an ever-growing royalty on American output. Here, we are like a family that consistently overspends its income. As time passes, the family finds that it is working more and more for the “finance company” and less for itself. . . . "
– Warren Buffet, “Sharecropper’s Society”

Damn it!
I got all excited there for a minute, I though it meant all the Germans were leaving TAIWAN!!!
Bitte!

We

I am not whining, just stating facts. But you are mistaken: deductions from the salary include tax and social welfare contributions, i.e. the latter covers unemployment benefits, pension (maybe, see below) and healthcare, not the tax itself.
Were I to work in Germany my total deductions (tax + social welfare contr.) would probably approach the 50% mark of my gross income - but there is no guarantee that I actually will ever get a pension for example. Current pension contributions do pay the retired now, not your own retirement. With less young people the funds will run out sooner or later, and there is no guarantee that the relevant laws will not be changed again as they have recently; now additional private pension shemes are required to cover your own future.
Health care used to be virtually free but again things have changed in recent years, e.g. now requiring additional fees for visiting a doctor (had the benefit that less people get sick though :wink: ) and prescriptions.
As well bob_honest correctly pointed out that unemployment benefits are also being cut and it’s not as “easy” as it sounds to get the same, at least not for a longer period of time. And not everyone is entitled (I wouldn’t be for example).

If I was living with a country of Germans, I would try to escape too.

(I love Germans really )

[quote=“the chief”]Damn it!
I got all excited there for a minute, I though it meant all the Germans were leaving TAIWAN!!!
Bitte![/quote]

Ja ich will! But … could you figure out the details with my wife please???

“Germans . . . germs . . . Germans . . . germs . . . ? Hmm . . . I wonder which came first.”
– Homer Simpson

[quote]We