Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

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Figure 1

In 2003, trainees in the western part of Germany earned an average € 612 per month. At 2.3 per cent, the average rise in trainee compensations was slightly lower than in the previous year when the average amount had increased by 2.7 per cent (see Figure 1). In east Germany the average agreed pay during training was € 517 per month in 2003. Consequently, the 1.8 per cent rise in 2003 was also weaker than in the year before (2.2 per cent). The process of raising the training pay - which in the east is laid down in collective agreements - to western levels continued to stagnate: From 2001 onwards the training pay in Germany's new states was on average 85 per cent of the level paid in the western part of the country.
In 2003, the negotiated pay for trainees in Germany as a whole averaged € 595 per month which was 2.4 per cent higher than in the previous year (€ 581).

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Schaubild 2

Compensations paid in the various training occupations varied considerably (see Figure 2). Very high rates had long since been agreed in the main occupations of the building and construction sector (e.g. bricklayer, carpenter, road builder): In 2003, compensations paid to trainees in this sector averaged a monthly € 833 in the west and € 679 in the east. At an average € 783, the pay for insurance clerk trainees in both east and west was also very high and in fact took the top position in the east. In the west, the highest trainee compensation by far, i.e. € 989 per month, was paid to people training as a sailor on inland waterways vessels (a corresponding figure for east Germany was not ascertained). Scaffolder trainees, too, received high compensations, i.e. an average € 791 in the west and € 663 in the east. On the other hand, trainee compensations for florists (west: € 413, east: € 312), hairdressers (west: € 414, east: € 257) and bakers (west: € 457, east: € 351), for instance, tended to be rather low. Regarding the calculated occupation-specific average rates it should be noted that agreed training pay rates in the same occupation often differ widely, depending on region and industry. It should also be taken into account that agreed rates only apply to in-company training; in non-company training schemes trainees usually receive much lower compensations which are not covered here.
All in all, training pay rates in the occupations reviewed were distributed as follows in 2003: In west Germany 58 per cent of trainees were paid between € 500 and € 700. 15 per cent received less than € 500, with compensations below € 400 tending to be exceptions. More than € 700 were paid to 27 per cent of trainees. In east Germany 46 per cent of trainees received between € 300 and € 500, while 45 per cent collected between € 500 and € 700. 3 per cent of trainees were paid less than € 300 and 6 per cent more than € 700.

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Schaubild 3

In 2003, there were again major differences in both east and west between the trainee compensations paid in the various training sectors (see Figure 3): Above-average rates were paid in trade and industry (west: € 674, east: € 576) and in the public service sector (west: € 657, east: € 602). In contrast, trainees in the craft trades, the liberal professions and agriculture received compensations that were below the general average. It should be noted, however, that in trade and industry and the craft trades in particular compensations in the various occupations vary widely.
All the amounts specified above are compensations averaged over the entire period of training. A breakdown by training year yields the following figures for 2003: In west Germany compensations paid in the first training year averaged € 540, in the second year € 609 and in the third year € 683. In east Germany trainees received on average € 454 per month in the first training year, € 523 in the second year and € 586 in the third year.

Last modified on: August 12, 2004