Twentyfold Rise: Magdeburg's Romanian Welfare Bill Climbs From €143,000 to €3 Million
October 28, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Federal Labour Agency data show social-welfare payments for Romanian nationals in Magdeburg grew from €143,000 in 2013 to over €3 million in 2025, a more than twentyfold rise. An MDR Investigativ documentary attributes the increase to EU free-movement rules and a monthly income gap that sees a typical large family receive €4,500 in Germany against €1,500 in Romania.
Social-welfare payments under Germany's SGB II programme for Romanian nationals in Magdeburg rose from €143,000 in 2013 to over €3 million in 2025, according to figures from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit cited by MDR Investigativ. That is more than a twentyfold increase in twelve years.
Over the same period, the number of Romanian nationals living in Magdeburg grew from roughly 160 to almost 3,000, MDR Investigativ reported.
Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. Since 2014, their citizens have held full free-movement rights and can take employment in Germany without a work permit. Under current rules, even a mini-job, a marginal contract of a few hours a week, can establish entitlement to supplementary state benefits. MDR Investigativ modelled the financial pull: a couple with seven children, both in mini-jobs, could receive around €4,500 a month in Germany through combined earnings and state transfers. A comparable family in Romania would receive around €1,500, the investigation found.
One man filmed on camera by MDR, a construction worker with eight children, said his monthly income was approximately €3,000, including Jobcenter payments. "Yes, child benefit from the Jobcenter, I have all of that," he told the reporter.
A woman named Mihaela Bolbucanu has a chronic lung condition requiring an artificial lung pump replaced every three months. Her husband Ovidiu told MDR that a Romanian doctor had advised them to go to England, Italy or Germany. "In Romania, life is hard. We have a bad health system," he said. The treatment is covered by German statutory health insurance. Their former landlord told MDR the couple owe him €5,000 in unpaid rent; the family disputes the claim.
Magdeburg's mayor, Simone Borris, told MDR her administration's options are limited. "We can only fight the symptoms. The legal framework is not made by us. We have laws to implement," she said. Asked who must change the rules, she named the federal government, the state government, and the EU.
Marc Elxnat of the German Association of Cities and Municipalities identified the structural problem: the European definition of "worker" includes anyone with a mini-job, creating benefit entitlements that can then be exploited. "Then there is also the possibility of abuse of social benefits after entry," he warned, according to MDR Investigativ. The mayor of Fântânele, a Romanian town visited by MDR, confirmed the incentive from his side: "If Germany had not offered these benefits, they probably would not be there."
Germany's federal social spending budget stands at €197 billion for 2026, according to official Bundeshaushalt data published at finanz-handbuch.de, up 43 percent since 2017. Magdeburg is one street-level illustration of where that money ends up.
Published October 28, 2026 · Frisian News