Recent German Migration Laws: A Contribution to Fiscal Sustainability

Abstract

The German government recently made a large number of changes to migration legislation, in relation to asylum seekers and refugees who have immigrated since 2015. While the impact of some reforms may be socio-political, most of them also have fiscal implications. This study uses generational accounting to analyse the effects of these legislative changes on the German fiscal system. The results show that these reforms will likely have overall positive effects on future German public finances; they also highlight the importance of successful integration in general and the positive financial contributions accruing from the immigration of relatively young and skilled workers.