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Representative survey entitled "Selected groups of migrants in Germany" ,
Source: BAMF
The research report on the representative survey entitled "Selected groups of migrants in Germany" (RAM 2015) contains information on four large groups of people with a migration background. This involved interviewing a total of 2,498 people between June and September 2015, 633 of whom were Polish, 632 were Romanian and 614 were Turkish nationals, as well as 619 German nationals with a Turkish migration background.
This report provides a descriptive overview of selected aspects of integration and attitudes among the four groups of people who were surveyed in 2015.
Selected results
The migration history exerts a major influence.
Almost all the Polish and Romanian nationals had personal experience of migration. This applied to fewer than three-quarters of the Turkish nationals, whilst the majority of Germans with a Turkish migration background had been born in Germany. Very many of the Poles and Romanians surveyed who had immigrated had done so for work-related motives. By contrast, family reunification was a more common motive for migration among Turkish respondents and Germans with a Turkish migration background. Background factors related to respondents' migration biographies, as well as sociodemographic background factors including the high average age of the respondent Turkish nationals, were among the considerations influencing the different circumstances of the four groups in 2015.
Differences with regard to schooling and vocational training
The vast majority of the Polish and Romanian nationals did not come to Germany until they had left school, and most of them had attained a medium level of education or higher. Whilst the Turkish nationals tended to have attained a low-to-medium level of education as a result of their own migration history or that of their parents, Germans with a Turkish migration background frequently reached a comparatively higher level of education. Polish respondents in 2015 were more likely to have vocational training qualifications or to have graduated from a course of studies than were members of the other three groups.
Household income
Turkish respondents were more likely not to be in gainful employment, or to have left it, and this is understandable given their higher average age. Much fewer funds were available to them per member of the household than in the other three groups. This meant that the share of the Turkish respondents who stated that they could not manage on their household incomes was larger than in the other groups.
Knowledge of German influenced by indicators related to migration biographies
Germans with a Turkish migration background had the best knowledge of German, whilst that of the Turkish and Polish nationals was in the middle field. Not surprisingly given the short period of residence of the Romanian nationals, they considered themselves to have the least comprehensive knowledge of German in comparison. When it came to German language acquisition, the vast majority of the Romanian, Turkish and Polish immigrants surveyed had learnt most of their German in everyday situations via reference persons, or at work, as well as by using German media. Half the members of the small group of Germans with a Turkish migration background who had immigrated, all of whom had been living in Germany for at least ten years, reported that they had grown up in Germany, had attended school here, and had learned German by these means.
No social isolationist tendencies discernible
Three-quarters of respondents stated that they frequently had contact with Germans among their friends. Only a small number of respondents stated that they would like to live in a neighbourhood where mostly foreigners live. A great deal of openness towards Germans was discernible overall. In contrast, however, more than one respondent in three with Romanian or Turkish nationality, or with German nationality and a Turkish migration background, reported that they had experienced discrimination in their everyday lives.
High level of satisfaction
A large majority of respondents in 2015 said that they were moderately or highly satisfied with their lives in Germany. Taking a look at how they manage on their household incomes however shows that there was a somewhat sizeable group among the Turkish respondents, roughly one-fifth, who were less satisfied.
Further aspects of the integration of the four groups are put forward in the research report, including identification with Germany or with the country of origin, and intentions to remain or become naturalised. Selected attitudes were also looked at, such as a feeling of political powerlessness.
The research report was written by: Dr. Christian Babka von Gostmoski
The full research report is only available in German.