Illegal work is booming: 91 percent of household helpers are unregistered!

Illegal work is booming: 91 percent of household helpers are unregistered!

In Germany, illegal work and illegal domestic help are commonplace. A current study by the German Economic Institute (IW) shows alarming figures: Over 90 percent of household helpers work without official registration. A worrying trend that continues, because in 2024 the number of registered domestic helpers fell to only about 246,700, a decrease of 4.5 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Reporting by the IW revealed.

The turnover from undeclared work in domestic help, however, has risen sharply: from around 9.8 billion euros in 2022 to around 11.4 billion euros in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 15 percent. This does not just affect the legal situation: on average, the household helpers affected receive between 15 and 25 euros per hour, while the households that use these services have a higher net household income of around 4,300 euros the Funke newspaper group reported.

A system in the shadow economy

The incentives for legal employment are weak and the bureaucratic hurdles deter many households. While countries like Sweden offer tax incentives of up to 50 percent, German politicians still have a lot to do to reduce the rate of undeclared work. The uncertainty for household helpers is also great: without registration, they are not entitled to continued payment of wages in the event of illness or vacation and are not insured against accidents. Experts are urgently calling for a rethink and the introduction of simple solutions such as voucher models in order to both reduce undeclared work and promote legal employment.