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Comment by ManuelKiessling | Hacker News Reader

I can only report from a viewpoint inside my own filter bubble obviously, but this "two or three jobs to earn a living" is something that is still associated with the US here and practically unheard of in Germany.

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Well, then i guess your bubble has a particularly large diameter. With almost 1 in 10 workers in Germany being part of the 'working poor' [1], there would otherwise be one in your social circle. [1] https://www.boeckler.de/106575_109897.htm

The definition of "working poor" they use is not "having two or more jobs" but "earning less than 60% of the median".

According to IAB 2.7 million workers have a second job in Germany (which is about 1 in 12). Most of them probably because they don’t earn enough in their first.

Not to forget that this number alone doesn't mean anything, we still need to compare this number to other countries or to the past. But then we also need to consider stuff like this: AFAIR the number of "working poor" or "relative poor" decreased in/after the crisis 2008. Why? Not because companies paid more during the crisis but simply since the median income decreased.

"Working poor" in Germany means having to use the social security systems to make up for the difference between what they earn and what they need.

And yes, this means that those jobs are tax subsidized.

It used to be an Americanism, but French documentaries showed the disappointments of many factory jobs; and lots of politicians there too say that the economic wonder is only so because they allowed for very harsh but unmeasured life condition.

What I hear is that things are going downhill in Germany too with Euro jobs and eternal internships. but i think there is generally still an assumption to you should be able to live from a full time job

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