Poverty is growing in the state of Bremen – especially among families and the elderly. This is shown in the current "Chamber Compact" report from the Bremen Chamber of Employees, published on the occasion of the Bremen Poverty Conference on March 3, 2025. According to the report, two out of five children and young people grow up in low-income families.
Income poverty: 198,000 people are affected – especially older people
Since the end of the Corona pandemic, poverty among the elderly has been rising year after year – in Bremen, one in four people over 65 is now considered poor. “The next federal government is called upon to stabilize pensions and provide greater relief for families. And above all, it must do more for education and training, because only well-qualified employees have the chance of well-paid jobs and a good pension,” emphasizes Peer Rosenthal, Managing Director of the Bremen Chamber of Employees.
Anyone living in a household with less than 60 percent of the average income is considered to be in poverty. In 2023, the poverty line was €1,247 net for a single-person household. In the state of Bremen, 198,000 people were considered poor in this sense – that's more than one in four.
Highest in a nationwide comparison
While Bremen, as a strong industrial center, offers good, collectively bargained wages in many sectors – such as the port, the automotive industry, and aerospace – many people work for low wages in service sector jobs like cleaning or hospitality. The prevalence of income poverty is highest in Bremen and Bremerhaven compared to other German states. Only a few cities in the Ruhr region, such as Duisburg, Dortmund, and Essen, are similarly affected.
One in five people in the state of Bremen receives social benefits
People are also considered poor if they need social benefits to secure their livelihood, such as basic income support or asylum seeker benefits. In 2023, more than one in five people in the city-state of Bremen received social benefits; this amounted to 121,448 people in the state. The number of elderly people requiring state support has increased particularly sharply. This includes those whose pensions are below the subsistence level and people who are unable to work due to illness. Asylum seeker benefits account for the smallest share of social benefits: in 2023, 5,820 refugees from war zones and crisis regions received these benefits – by comparison, more than 11,000 people received them in 2015/2016.
Citizen's income: Very few recipients are unemployed
At the end of 2023, 53,237 people in the city of Bremen (14,096 in Bremerhaven) received citizen's income – a particularly high number of them live in Blumenthal, Vegesack, Huchting, and Vahr. In these districts, roughly one in five residents relies on citizen's income, while in Gröpelingen, it's as high as one in four. The number of recipients has increased in Mitte, Obervieland, Neustadt, Walle, Hemelingen, and Horn-Lehe, while it has decreased slightly in Osterholz. No figures are available for Bremerhaven at the district level.
Only recognized refugees receive citizen's income
Especially in the so-called arrival centers in the city of Bremen, poverty remains at a high level – many newcomers live there, particularly from war zones and crisis regions. Asylum seekers are only entitled to citizen's income once they have been recognized as refugees. In light of the current debates surrounding the costs of citizen's income, the Bremen Chamber of Employees points out that the majority of recipients are employed or, for valid reasons, are not available to the labor market or can only do so to a limited extent. Many people receiving citizen's income are employed but must supplement their earnings with it due to insufficient wages.
Climate change: The poor suffer the most from the consequences
This year's poverty conference will focus for the first time on the consequences of the climate crisis for people with low incomes, under the motto: "Addressing the poverty and climate crisis together in Bremen." Poor people are not only suffering disproportionately from rising food and energy prices and high rents, but they are also massively affected by the consequences of the climate crisis: In Bremen, too, those who contribute the least to climate change are suffering the most
Poorer people have a lower impact on the climate
In Germany, it has been proven that people in the poorer half of the population have a 15-times lower impact on the climate than those in the wealthiest one percent. Many poor people live in neighborhoods with little green space and poorly insulated buildings that are too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter, resulting in high energy costs. In Bremen, the heat is particularly hard on residents of Gröpelingen, Oslebshausen, Lüssum, Grohn, Blumenthal, Hemelingen, Hastedt, Kirchhuchting, Neuenland, Tenever, the western part of Woltmershausen, and the area around the main train station. "A socially sensitive and forward-looking climate policy also contributes to poverty reduction," says Rosenthal.
The demands of the Chamber of Employees
Increase minimum wage
Bremen has a large number of low-wage earners and many who work part-time or in mini-jobs. "If the federal government were to implement the EU minimum wage directive, it would help many Bremen residents," says Rosenthal. The minimum wage – currently €12.82 – would then have to be 60 percent of the median wage. That would be about €15.
Ensuring social participation, strengthening neighborhoods
In the city's neighborhoods, numerous projects and social services ensure social participation, which is just as important as material participation. Given the poverty, this vital social infrastructure in Bremen and Bremerhaven must be maintained and financially secured.
Securing material participation
In Germany, the basic income guarantees a minimum standard of living. Recent increases have merely kept pace with inflation. Wages have risen more sharply during the same period. "Those who make the amount of the basic income a political bone of contention are fighting the poor, not poverty," says Rosenthal.
Introduction of a climate currency
The new federal government must quickly introduce a simple, flat-rate, per capita climate allowance. A new CO2 pricing system will come into effect in 2027 – energy prices will rise, which will disproportionately burden people with low incomes. "Therefore, a climate allowance must be introduced as a form of social compensation," says Rosenthal.
Source: Bremen Chamber of Employees, press release , February 28, 2025