A study compares the incomes of immigrants and natives in several countries.

Immigrants in Germany earn significantly lower average wages than natives. This also applies to eight other countries, according to an international study commissioned by the journal "Nature" with the participation of researchers from the Nuremberg Institute for Employment Research (IAB). These are Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the USA. However, several of the other countries are closing the wage gap among the second generation of immigrants faster than Germany.

In Germany, the income gap among the first generation is 19.6 percent. The main reason for this deficit is not unequal pay for the same work, but rather limited access to better-paying industries, occupations, and companies. This accounts for three-quarters of the wage gap. The study analyzed data from 13.5 million immigrants and native workers in nine countries.

"Integration isn't just about equal pay for equal work. It's primarily about removing structural barriers to entry into well-paid employment," said study co-author Malte Reichelt of the IAB. Language support, recognition of foreign qualifications, expansion of professional networks, and better information provision are important for removing structural barriers.

In Germany, a wage gap still exists among second-generation immigrants, averaging 7.7 percent. Although this gap is smaller than among the parent generation, descendants of people from Africa and the Middle East, in particular, continue to be disadvantaged.

An international comparison reveals a varying degree of disparity. The largest wage gaps for the first generation were found in Spain at 29.3 percent and Canada at 27.5 percent, followed by Norway at 20.3 percent, Germany at 19.6 percent, France at 18.9 percent and the Netherlands at 15.4 percent. The differences were significantly smaller in the USA at 10.6 percent, Denmark at 9.2 percent and Sweden at 7 percent. Income differences are also evident for the second generation - the average wage gap here is 5.7 percent. Germany is therefore above average in this regard. The wage gap for the second generation is largest in Norway at 8.7 percent and lowest in Canada at 1.9 percent.