Hartz IV recipients sicker than workers

Hartz IV recipients rate their health worse than those in gainful employment

Four out of ten Hartz IV recipients are of the opinion that they are severely restricted in their health. This was the result of a survey by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). Aufstockern is therefore something as unemployed Hartz IV recipients. However, those in employment without benefits in accordance with SGB II are the best at health. Among the employees, only one in five said they had severe health problems.

Makes Hartz IV sick?
The IAB study found that 45 percent of male and 38 percent of Hartz IV female recipients are struggling with severe health problems, have a recognized disability or have applied for disability recognition. For the gainfully employed this amounted to only 19 per cent. According to labor market researchers, health restrictions do not necessarily hinder employment.

In the survey, the differences in subjective indicators such as health satisfaction were more pronounced than in objective ones (for example, disability). Overall, the Hartz IV recipients with 42 percent of men and 33 percent of women were much more often physical restrictions than mental health (eight percent of men and 13 percent of women).

The IAB experts emphasize that their study results show no direction of action. It is both possible that unemployment is ill, as well as that makes a disease needy. In addition, other factors could play a role, such as the health behavior, which turned out to be very different among the respondents. Thus, the Hartz IV recipients of alcohol consumption and daily sports health-conscious behavior as a worker, on the other hand, but they also declared more often that they smoke or do not do any sports. The health behavior is therefore only a small part of the poorer health, interpret the labor market researchers.

"In the practice of job placement, on average, the poorer state of health of beneficiaries may act as an intermediary barrier," say the IAB experts. Therefore, they advise to create "the best possible networking of health and employment promotion actors".

A total of 12,000 Hartz IV recipients were interviewed for the study in the context of the "Labor Market and Social Security" panel. The participant age was between 20 and 64 years of age. (Ag)

Image: Lucie Gerhardt