Impact on the environment and health More and more Germans commute to work

Health endangered: number of commuters in Germany has risen to new record
More and more employees in Germany have to go to another community to get to work. Around 60 percent of employees in Germany are now commuters - a new record. This is a great burden on the environment and also on the health of those affected.

60 percent of German employees are commuters
The number of commuters in Germany rose to a new record last year. While in 2000 still 53 percent of all employees commuted, it was recently 60 percent. This is the result of an evaluation by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR). This not only has a negative impact on the environment, but also on the health of commuters.

Around 60 percent of employees in Germany are commuters. The daily commute to work not only endangers the environment, but also the health. (Image: Ralf Gosch / fotolia.com)

Berlin records strongest growth
As the BBSR reports in a communication, especially many people commute to the big cities.

For example, two-thirds of employees covered by social insurance who work in the cities of Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart live outside the city limits. Most commuters have Munich.

There, around 355,000 people worked outside the city limits in 2016 - an increase of 21 percent since 2000. Frankfurt am Main follows with 348,000 commuters (plus 14 percent).

The biggest increase was recorded in Berlin, where the number of commuters increased by 53 per cent compared with the year 2000 to 274,000.

Longer work distances
But not only the number of commuters, but also the average length of the simple commute has increased in recent years: from 14.6 kilometers in 2000 to 16.8 kilometers in 2015.

"In particular, the surrounding municipalities benefit from the growth of the economically strong cities," said BBSR director Herrmann.

"But there are also side effects that more and more employees live outside. Land use and traffic load are rising. It is therefore important that the infrastructure keeps pace with growth and that the surrounding area remains well connected to public transport, "says Herrmann.

High particulate matter pollution
The high volume of traffic is a major burden on the environment. For example, commuters in Stuttgart - one of the most affected cities - were asked last year to leave their car at fine dust alarm best.

The capital of Baden-Württemberg in 2030 will be one of Europe's cities with the highest particulate matter pollution, as Austrian researchers have calculated. Occupational donation poses a danger to health.

"The available research shows that daily commuter mobility can endanger the physical and mental health of the working population and has a negative impact on the sense of health," said Simon Pfaff of the Federal Institute for Population Research in Wiesbaden in a message from the news agency dpa.

"The longer the journey time of the employed, the greater the burden, also because less time for regeneration remains."

Mental illnesses by occupational donations
The health insurance companies have been dealing for years with the increased health risk of commuters.

A survey of Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) years ago showed that commuting or frequent job changes and relocations due to a new job seem to be the reasons why mental illness among commuters is more common.

The much-vaunted "mobility and flexibility gets on people's nerves," a spokeswoman commented.

Affordable housing in major cities
From the point of view of IG Bau, the growing number of commuters is also a consequence of incorrect housing policy. "It is clear that the number of commuters rise, even if normal earners have to move because of high rents from the cities," said the deputy IG BAU national chairman Dietmar Schäfers in a statement.

"Commuting not only causes unhealthy stress in those affected. It also pollutes the environment. What use reduced working hours or flexibility, if they are used up by excessive travel times, "said Schäfers.

"We need a policy with the aim of enabling affordable housing in metropolises and metropolitan areas." It had been a mistake "to privatize the apartments of the public sector and it was just the wrong thing to leave the housing issue too long for the market" , (Ad)