After many years of debates, 2015 saw the introduction of a statutory minimum wage of € 8.50 per hour (€ 8.84 since 2017) in Germany. While opponents of the minimum wage predicted negative effects on employment, some advocates expected the number of wage earners depending on social basic benefits to decrease significantly due to the minimum wage. In an interview for the IAB-Forum, Joachim Möller, Director of IAB, explains to what extent these fears or hopes proved true.

This video is the second interview of a series of interviews with Joachim Möller that address selected aspects of the labour market in Germany (the German job miracle; the German minimum wage; refugees and migration; young people; active labour market policy; and the digital revolution).

 

The interview was conducted by Hannah Ormerod.

 

Transcript: Barrier-free file