This perceived downward trend of people working ‘off-the-books’ in Germany....is bogus. It’s just that the economic experts can’t get a clear accurate picture of the amount of black labor going on.
A German guy decides on a renovated bathroom, which would cost 12,000 Euro ($15k) for material and labor. He finds this guy who will do Saturday work (cash only), and the new price is 9,500 Euro...so he goes with black labor. German car mechanics do this....German roofers....German plumbers....German electricians, etc.
The only place where the new German minimum wage of 8.50 matters is in food service (fast food). Eating out will go up by a minimum of ten percent over the next year as this falls in place. Under-the-table labor will continue on, and is unaffected by the minimum wage deal.
And the best part about that, is that cash obviously isn’t taxed, so the person doing the labor sees all of it.