How Germany fails disabled people

德国如何辜负了残疾人

The Documentary Podcast

2026-06-21

28 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Disabled people are the most unfairly treated minority in Germany, according to one former member of parliament. This is especially true in the world of work. The unemployment rate among disabled people is twice that of people with no disability. When they do find work, it’s often in an institution where they are paid less than the minimum wage and where they do not have the usual rights and protections enjoyed by most employed people. Yet they are often producing goods for big companies with well-known brand names. Amy Zayed, one of very few disabled journalists working in Germany, asks what can be done to make Germany more inclusive.
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  • This is a small group and we have here people with severe disabilities and a very high need of assistance

  • so right now you see we're in a brightly lit room full of activity the people here are working

  • at a variety of different tasks here you see the young man right opposite from us he's just learning

  • how to wash the dishes to wash the dishes

  • and To the left here we see a young man that can barely move his hand and we have built a construction

  • that he's now using a paper shredder and these people here are learning how to work.

  • We have the idea that every person is able to learn a job.

  • Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

  • My name's Amy Zayed and I am one of a very few disabled journalists working in Germany today.

  • In this edition of assignment, I'm asking why so many German

  • people with a disability are excluded from the world of work.

  • Why inclusion is so difficult?