Jobs
Having a job brings many important benefits, including: providing a source of income, improving social inclusion, fulfilling one's own aspirations, building self-esteem and developing skills and competencies. In Germany, about 74% of the working-age population aged 15 to 64 has a paid job.
Unemployed persons are defined as those who are not currently working but are willing to do so and actively searching for work. Long-term unemployment can have a large negative effect on feelings of well-being and self-worth and result in a loss of skills, further reducing employability. In Germany, the percentage of the labour force that has been unemployed for a year or longer is currently at 2.2%
The wages and other monetary benefits that come with employment are an important aspect of job quality. Germans earn USD 43 872 per year on average.
Another essential factor of employment quality is job security, in terms of expected loss of earnings when someone becomes unemployed. This includes how likely you are to lose your job, how long you are likely to remain unemployed and how much financial assistance you can expect from government. Workers facing a high risk of job loss are more vulnerable, especially in countries with smaller social safety nets. In Germany, workers face an expected 2.7% loss of earnings if they become unemployed.
The German labour market responded well to the financial crisis, demonstrating the benefits of previous labour market reforms and projects that increased work incentives and improved job matching.
One successful initiative was the Start-Up Subsidy, a programme that provides financial support to unemployed people who start a business. The programme helps new entrepreneurs cover basic living costs and social security contributions during the initial stage when businesses typically do not yield substantial income.
Evaluations show that the programme is effective and cost efficient when the supported business founders are compared with other unemployed individuals. These businesses have higher survival rates than non-supported ones. Nearly 40% of business founders who received the subsidy created as many jobs as employed people who started their own businesses. After five years fewer than 10% of participants had returned to unemployment.