In Germany, they decided: the minimum wage should be 14.60 euros per hour. Currently, it is 12.82 euros per hour. About 6 million workers in the country receive such a salary.
The special commission of the German government, which is responsible for setting the minimum wage, recommended that the minimum hourly wage in Germany be increased to 14.60 euros per hour. This should happen in two stages - on January 1, 2026, the pay should jump to 13.90 euros per hour, and on January 1, 2027 - to 14.60 euros per hour.
From 12.82 to 14.60 euros per hour
Currently, the minimum wage in Germany is 12.82 euros per hour and about 6 million people work at this rate, the KNA news agency notes.
During the election campaign and coalition negotiations with the CDU/CSU, the Social Democrats insisted on a minimum wage of 15 euros per hour. The current result is slightly below their goal. In this regard, Christiane Schönefeld, chairwoman of the specialized commission, which is composed of representatives of unions and employers, called the negotiations "very difficult".
According to the new recommendation from January 2026, full-time employees receiving a minimum wage will receive around 190 euros more gross per month. And from January 2027, the total gross monthly increase would be 310 euros.
The so-called silent reserve in Germany
Today, June 27, data on the so-called silent reserve in Germany were also announced. These are those unemployed people who would actually like to work. In 2024, about 3.1 million people were in such a situation in the country.
These are people between the ages of 15 and 74 who are not available on the labor market in the short term and are not currently actively looking for a job, but would still like to have one.
1.8 million people from this so-called silent reserve are relatively far from active working life, the data shows. Currently, 930,000 people are not looking for a job because they believe they cannot find a suitable one. And 380,000 people are not doing so because they are caring for loved ones.
In the age group from 25 to 59, almost a third (31.3%) of women say that they are currently unable to work because they have to take care of relatives. For men in this age group, health restrictions (35.5 percent) are the main reason why they are not active on the labor market.
The so-called silent reserve group does not include the unemployed who are available on the labor market. According to data last year, they were just under 1.5 million. This means that the unused labor potential in Germany in 2024 amounts to 4.6 million people.