High rents in Germany lead to an increase in the number of commuters

According to the trade union organization Industriegewerkschaft Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU), high rents in big cities are the cause of the growing number of people who come to work, so-called commuters. "As many workers are no longer able to pay for housing in German cities after many years of exorbitant rent increases, the only alternative is often just a few hours of driving," DPA quoted union president Robert Feiger as saying. Feiger refers to current data from the Federal Employment Agency (BA), according to which around 13 million compulsorily insured employees leave their town or district every day. That's about 200,000 more than in the same period last year. According to an earlier analysis by the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Regional Research, up to 19.3 million people worked in this way, ie 4.4 million more than in 2000. The institute attributes this increase mainly to the growth in the number of employed people in recent years. Feiger states that long journeys to work are no longer just the domain of big cities. "Cities like Braunschweig, Erfurt and Heidelberg also have high five-digit numbers," he explained. Long roads are widespread, especially in construction. According to him, however, it must not be the case that people who have bought or built apartments in big cities can no longer afford them. Therefore, in order to alleviate the housing shortage, IG BAU calls for a significant increase in financial support and a permanent reduction in prices for the construction of social housing.