Germany: Mass migration fueling increased homelessness

Close to 678,000 people in Germany are without homes while tens of thousands live on the streets, official figures have revealed.

Recently, the German Federal Working Community (BAG) released a report which revealed that in 2018 there were at least 678,000 people without permanent housing, of which an overwhelming majority, 440,000 are migrants living in some kind of collective housing, German daily tabloid Bild reports.

The figure represents an increase of 4.2 percent, about 30,000 homeless people, compared to 2017, and included 41,000 individuals who not only are without permanent housing but actually live on the streets.

BAG homelessness assistance noted that around 70 percent of the homeless people without a migrant background were single persons in 2018, while 30 percent were individuals who live together with partners and/or children.

Werena Rosenke, managing director of BAG homelessness, told Bild, “There are too few social housing and affordable housing. The situation will not be eased in the next few months, and probably not next year. However, a precise forecast is not possible. Especially in the big cities, the situation is very tense.”

Rosenke noted that single parents and young adults often face the greatest risk of becoming homeless, adding that a generation of gig workers, solo self-employed workers, and others in less secure jobs was especially worrying.

In 2018, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to spend €6.85 billion on several measures which included social housing for migrants.

In the same year, the German federal government spent 23 billion euros on migrants, 11 percent more than in 2017.

Source