Print version Recommend this page Press release
01/ 2011
Bonn, 05.01.2011
Training allowances based on collective wage agreements 2010: significantly lower increase than in the previous year
The average amount earned by trainees in West Germany in 2010 was €688 gross per month. Training allowances based on collective wage agreements increased by an average of 1.3%. This represented a significantly smaller rise than in the year 2009, when the corresponding figure was 3.3% (see Figure 1). In East Germany, training allowances based on collective wage agreements went up by 2.9% in 2010 to reach an average of €612 per month. This also constituted a lower increase compared to the previous year (4.9%). The gap between the East German and West German collective wage agreement level continued to narrow in 2010. Training allowances paid in the East have now reached 89% of the Western remuneration level (2009: 88 %). The average training allowance based on collective wage agreements for the whole of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2010 was €678 per month, a rise of 1.8% compared to the 2009 level of €666. These results have been compiled by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) in its evaluation of training allowances based on collective wage agreements for the year 2010.
Figure 1
Average remunerations were calculated for 186 occupations in West Germany and 151 occupations in East Germany. 88% of trainees are trained in these occupations.
Considerable differences in the amount of remuneration exist between training occupations (see Figure 2). By far the highest training allowances of €978 per month were paid in the occupation of inland bargeman in West and East Germany. High levels of remuneration based on collective wage agreements have also been in place for some considerable time in the occupations of the main construction industry (e.g. bricklayer), where the average amounts paid in 2010 were €916 per month in West Germany and €725 in East Germany. Training allowances paid in such occupations as mechatronics fitter and insurance and financial services broker were also high. The average for the former was €843 in the West and €823 in the East, whereas the corresponding figures for the latter were €837 for both areas of the country.
By way of contrast, training allowances tended to be low in such occupations as painter and varnisher (West: €421, East: €388), hairdresser (West: €451, East: €269), Florist (West: €460, East: €312) and baker (West: €500, East: €390).
Figure 2
When considering the occupationally specific average values calculated, account needs to be taken of the fact that there are frequently considerable deviations in training allowances based on collective wage agreements depending on branch and region. Consideration also needs to be accorded to the fact that training allowances based on collective wage agreements only apply in company-based training. In extra-company training financed by public funds, trainees usually receive significantly lower levels of remuneration. These are not included here.
The overall distribution of training allowances in the occupations investigated in the year 2010 is as follows. In West Germany, 67% of trainees received between €500 and €799. 6% of trainees were paid less than €500. There was virtually no incidence of training allowances of under €400. 27% of trainees received remuneration of €800 or more. 46% of East German trainees were paid a training allowance of between €500 and €799. 37% received less than €500, whereas 10% were even paid less than €400. 17% of trainees were given remuneration of €800 or more.
BIBB also calculated average levels of remuneration for male and female trainees. These showed that male trainees in West Germany earned an average of €702 whereas the corresponding figure for females was €667. In East Germany, the average remuneration levels for male and female trainees were €628 and €584 respectively. The reason for this difference in average training allowances paid is that young women enter occupations with lower training allowances more frequently than young men.
Figure3
There were also clear differences in remuneration levels between training sectors in West and East Germany in 2010 (see Figure 3). Above-average training allowances were achieved in trade and industry (West: €759, East: €670) and in the public sector (West and East: €750). Remunerations paid in the craft trades, in the liberal professions and in agriculture were, however, below the general average. Notwithstanding this, account needs to be taken of the fact that training allowances differ extremely strongly between the individual occupations, particularly in the trade and industry sector and in the craft trades.
All amounts stated refer to average remunerations over the whole of the period of training. The 2010 values calculated for individual years of training are as follows.
- In West Germany, average training allowances were €614 per month for the first year of training, €685 per month for the second year and €761 per month for the third.
- The corresponding average figures for East Germany were €544, €615 and €672.
Further English language information is available on the BIBB website at http://www.bibb.de/en/783.htm
