Many Turkish Guest Workers Face Poverty as They Reach Retirement Age

From recruitment to retirement

West Germany and Turkey signed a labor recruitment agreement on October 30, 1961. By the program’s end in 1973, about 870,000 Turkish men and women had come to Germany for work.

Many worked in mines, factories and other physically demanding jobs. Düsseldorf, Cologne and Duisburg became major destinations. At a ceremony at Düsseldorf Airport in mid-September, North Rhine-Westphalia premier Henrik Wüst recognized the first generation’s contribution to Germany’s prosperity.

Wüst said the workers had helped make Germany more diverse, open and strong. He added that equality would be achieved only when names, skin color and religion no longer mattered.

Progress alongside discrimination

Uslucan’s father arrived in Berlin after 1971 to work in textiles, and later brought his wife and two sons. Uslucan earned a doctorate in psychology. His recent research has examined loneliness among former guest workers, an issue affecting some as they grow older.

Pensions and welfare gaps

Uslucan says studies put old-age poverty among migrants at 25% to 30%, against 12% to 14% among Germans. He also reports higher disability and early-retirement rates among migrants, as well as greater likelihood of unemployment in the decade before retirement.

A special analysis by Germany’s pension insurance fund found that, at the end of 2025, pensioners with Turkish citizenship received about €890 a month on average, compared with €1,250 for German pensioners—a difference of roughly €360. In June 2026, 9.3% of Turkish retirees relied on top-up welfare benefits, versus 2.7% of Germans.

Why benefits are lower

Social scientist Eric Seils of the Hans Böckler Foundation says many workers arrived after the start of their working lives, leaving less time to contribute to pensions. He also points to lower wages and shorter work histories.

Many were employed in factories, mines or construction, and Seils says they often earned less because they had less education. Deindustrialization and the oil crisis in the early 1970s led to job losses; interrupted employment, he says, can reduce retirement benefits.