Many Turkish 'guest workers' hit by poverty in old age

Düsseldorf Airport is a historically symbolic location. This is where the first Turkish "guest workers," as they were called at the time in Germany, arrived 65 years ago.

At a ceremony there in in mid-September, North Rhine-Westphalia's premier, Henrik Wüst, commemorated the courage of this first generation of migrants and their contribution to Germany's prosperity. 

By the time recruitment ended in 1973, some 870,000 Turkish men and women had migrated to Germany for work. They toiled in the coal mines, did piecework on assembly lines or cleaned the factory floors. Most settled in Düsseldorf, Cologne or Duisburg. "They have made our country more diverse, more open and stronger," said Wüst. However, he also stressed: "We will have reached our goal only once name, skin color and religion no longer matter."

Some upward mobility among migrants, but discrimination a big problem 

According to Haci-Halil Uslucan, Germany is still a long way from that. Even 65 years later, he told DW, there is still a great deal of discrimination in Germany against people of Turkish descent. However, he points out that the recruitment agreement was, in the main, a success story: "We've seen success in many areas, such as education. Today, we have a large number of college graduates, and we've seen professional advancement. And successful political careers. Take Baden-Württemberg's state premier, Cem Özdemir, for example," he said.

Uslucan is a perfect example: His father came to Berlin after 1971 and worked in the textile industry. Two years later, he brought his wife and two sons to join him. Haci-Halil Uslucan earned his Ph.D. in psychology and is now a professor of Modern Turkish Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. One of his most recent research topics addresses the dark side of the labor recruitment agreement — an issue that affects and troubles many former so-called 'guest workers': loneliness. But it is not just loneliness that is increasingly taking its toll on some people of Turkish descent reaching retirement age.

"Studies show that poverty in old age is twice as high among migrants — between 25% and 30% compared to 12% to 14% among Germans. The disability rate and the rate of early retirement are significantly higher among migrants because the first generation did very heavy physical labor." They are also twice as likely to become unemployed ten years before reaching retirement age, says Uslucan. "In addition, their monthly income is lower, they are more likely to have had employment gaps and worked in low-wage sectors. As a result, their pensions are also low."

Three perspectives: What does German citizenship mean?

Pensions €360 lower among Turkish citizens in Germany

A special analysis by Germany's pension insurance fund (DRV) for the Mediendienst Integration, an information service for journalists on  migration topics, has come up with some alarming figures: In Germany, pensioners with Turkish citizenship receive, on average, about €360 ($403) less in pension benefits than German pensioners. At the end of 2025, the figure was €890 compared to €1,250 per month. Even more troubling is that in June 2026 more than three times as many retirees with Turkish citizenship relied on top-up welfare benefits as Germans (9.3% compared to 2.7%).

Social scientist Eric Seils of the Hans Böckler Foundation in Düsseldorf told DW that many of the 'guest workers' came to Germany were not at the start of their working lives and were therefore able to contribute less to their pension fund. "But, of course, the most important reason is that they earned less in wages and had a shorter work history. The guest workers who came to Germany often went straight to factories, mines or construction sites. There, they didn't earn high hourly wages because they were often less educated than the Germans," he added.

With deindustrialization in the early 1970s and the oil crisis, many also lost their jobs. "There weren't as many good jobs available at traditional industrial companies. Those who weren't as well-educated were more likely to become unemployed than those with an education — and the same was true for Germans. And when working lives are interrupted, that naturally has an impact on retirement benefits at some point."

Few chances for migrant workers to train

Janina Söhn of the Institute for Sociological Research (SOFI) at Göttingen University has also studied the issue of poverty among older immigrants. In her view, the fact that nearly one-third of immigrants are at risk of poverty is a major problem in Germany. "This group faces even greater hardship than, for example, women in general, who already have a higher risk of poverty. And when you then look specifically at female migrants living alone, the figures are truly dire and alarming. If there were no family support, the situation would be even sorrier."

Even the opportunity to earn a few extra euros during retirement is often unavailable to many older people of Turkish origin. Either because their qualifications — which are often limited — are insufficient, or because the hard physical labor they performed when they were younger has left them physically unfit. According to figures from the German Federal Employment Agency, their employment rate is only half that of Germans (5.2% compared to 10.8%). Söhn says: "Basically, they face a whole series of disadvantages or hardships in life. That generation of guest workers was brought to Germany and then had to do the worst jobs here, whereas many Germans were able to progress through education and training." For the guest workers, on the other hand, there were no continuing education initiatives. "The people who did these tough jobs — which are always necessary for any economy — paid for it with their health."