2016年-世界发展银行全球_Assessing_Benefit_Portability_for_International_Migrant_Workers___A_Review_of_the_Germany-Turkey_Bilateral_Social_Security_Agreement_58页_2mb

Summary of "Assessing Benefit Portability for International Migrant Workers: A Review of the Germany-Turkey Bilateral Social Security Agreement"

Core Content

This document is a discussion paper examining the Germany-Turkey Bilateral Social Security Agreement (BSSA) as part of a broader project analyzing benefit portability in four migration corridors: Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco. The study aims to evaluate how well BSSAs function in practice and assess their effectiveness in enabling the portability of pension and health care benefits for international migrant workers.

Main Views

• Benefit portability is increasingly important as more individuals work outside their home countries.
• Bilateral Social Security Agreements (BSSAs) are a key mechanism for enabling portability, but their functionality and effectiveness have not been systematically evaluated.
• The Germany-Turkey BSSA is found to be functioning well overall, with no major issues in pension portability and few minor issues in health care portability and financing.
• Process issues such as information provision and automation of data exchange are recognized and are beginning to be addressed.

Key Information

Migration Trends

• In 2015, 3.3% of the global population were international migrants, and this number is rising.
• Non-EU citizens in the EU-28 accounted for 4% of the EU population, with 7% of the population born abroad.
• For the EU, 20% of current workers are expected to have foreign residency experience in the future.

Germany-Turkey Corridor

• Germany has had significant migration inflows from Turkey since the 1960s, driven by guest worker programs.
• By 2012, 16.3 million people in Germany had a migration background, with Turkey being the main source.
• Turkey has traditionally been a source country for migration to Europe, particularly Germany.
• The migration balance between Germany and Turkey was negative from 2007 to 2011, indicating more emigration than immigration.

Migration Composition

• Turkish migrants in Germany are predominantly male and younger than the general German population.
• 6.3% of those with a Turkish migration background and 12.1% of Turkish citizens in Germany are over 65 years old, which places them in the pension age bracket.
• Average age of Turkish migrants arriving in Germany in 2011 was 29.6 years, while those leaving had an average age of 46.4 years.

BSSA Functionality

• The Germany-Turkey BSSA allows for pension portability, with no major substantive issues.
• Health care portability faces minor challenges, particularly in coverage and financing.
• The agreement is well-established and has evolved over time, with updates to include health care benefits.

Methodology

• The study uses three criteria to evaluate BSSAs:
  • Fairness for individuals: ensuring no benefit disadvantage for migrants or dependents.
  • Fiscal fairness: ensuring no unfair fiscal advantage or disadvantage for either the host or home country.
  • Bureaucratic efficiency: minimizing administrative burden and ensuring accessibility for migrants.
• Qualitative data was collected through interviews with social security institutions and migrant organizations.
• Quantitative data was used to analyze migration flows, population composition, and benefit transfers.
• Key performance indicators were initially planned but could not be implemented due to data limitations.

Conclusion

The Germany-Turkey BSSA is functioning well, particularly in the area of pension portability. However, health care portability and administrative efficiency still have room for improvement. The study highlights the importance of BSSAs in enabling labor mobility and social protection for international migrants, and it calls for better information systems and automation to enhance the effectiveness of these agreements.

This report is part of a series of corridor studies and is best read in parallel with a summary policy paper that outlines broader reflections and policy recommendations for BSSAs across all four corridors.