Research question/goal:

Against the backdrop of strong immigration to Germany in recent years, the role of the welfare state and its legitimacy have become the subject of heated debate. On the one hand, social policy supports the integration of migrants into the labour market and society, contributing to the sustainability of social security systems. On the other hand, migration can undermine the legitimacy of the welfare state if the native population is opposed to redistribution to migrants and fears a greater financial burden from the costs of immigration.

The research project analysed the following questions in cooperation with the ZEW: (1) How do social policy and new immigration influence the integration of migrant groups? (2) How does the perceived integration of migrants change the legitimacy of benefits for migrants? (3) How do perceived and actual integration interact in different areas of social policy? The MZES’ part of the project focused primarily on the second and third questions.

We designed multifactorial survey experiments to examine these research questions. An independent survey was conducted in an online access panel in 2020 and 2021 (n=2,000). Another survey was conducted among respondents with a migration background (n=1,000).

The results show that perceived lack of integration of migrants reduces the legitimacy of social policy benefits for migrants among native respondents. Public attitudes towards pension benefits show a strong ethnic penalty. Respondents would grant a fictitious pensioner with a migrant background lower pensions than native Germans, even if both have identical contribution histories. Those who perceive migrants as less well integrated or less willing to work feel that their benefits are less deserved and legitimate. These findings gain further significance in light of a follow-up study showing that people systematically underestimate the economic integration of migrants.

Further research should therefore also address how misperceptions arise and what measures and information might help to correct them.