The court system in Germany ordered recognition of the ‘other’ wives several years ago. Some guy had shown up with a second wife, and they spent several months reviewing it, with court system over state benefits declaring they were to be recognized. That episode wasn’t openly discussed in public and I think it’d been widely noted....a lot of Germans would have been frustrated and angry.
I think the whole “check” (for the rent, and the social care money) is written out to the husband. Just on grocery money, at the bare minimum....he has to put out at least 2,000 Euro a month (my humble estimate) for that many folks, and that’s for just the bare essentials.
It got brought up in Germany in August what it now costs for each kid, for school supplies required for the year....somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 Euro for pens, notebooks, etc. If you live in a German state which doesn’t pay for it’s text books....that’s also another cost-burden.
The welfare system in Germany underwent some massive change back a decade ago, and they cut big-time on benefits. If you end up on this program, there’s virtually no gravy-train...you just get enough to survive. They don’t even cover vehicles or vehicle support anymore.
I do wonder, Pepsionice, if the German government is paying this current crop of “Syrian” refugees a different rate?
That may account for the discrepancy.