If someone is sacked from their job, they become unemployed. For many people, unemployment is a very bad experience. They have the feeling that they are no longer needed, even though they can still work and are willing to do so. What is more, they have much less money after being sacked than they did before, because in Germany the unemployment insurance that they paid into during the time of their employment pays only around 60 percent of their old salary. This is also the case with people who were not sacked by their employer but resigned themselves and were then unable to find any work.
Unemployed women and men have to check into to job centres at certain intervals. The people there try to find new work for them. If the unemployed do not check in, they do not receive any unemployment benefits. If the period without paid work lasts longer than two years, they receive even less money. The longer the period of unemployment lasts and the older the people who are looking for work, the more difficult it becomes to find a new job.