That means shadow or underground economy.
It’s a Volkssport (national pastime) here. Over-taxed Germans get even with the government any and every chance they get. See Schwarzarbeit.
German shadow economy booms amid high taxes and state aid – While Germany’s economy falters, the country is experiencing a rise in undeclared work. What role do taxes and generous state aid for the poor play in the surge?
No, not Afro-American workers. You know, Schwarzarbeiter (illegal workers).
And they’re everywhere all over Europe these days, although Germany is the champion here again too, as usual.
Eight million Germans are working on the black market as we speak, so-to-speak, generating about 13 percent of the country’s economic output. And loving it, I hope for them, because many of them just don’t seem to have any choice in the matter. Nobody will hire them otherwise:
Punitive tax regimes, increased labor market regulation and a growing lack of trust in governments are causing many Europeans to abandon formal employment and enter into the murky, illicit world of shadow economies worth billions of dollars.
Unternehmen und Arbeitnehmer setzen auf Schwarzarbeit, dadurch entstehen zwei Drittel des Schadens. Für das weitere Drittel ist verantwortlich, dass viele zu geringe Einkommen und Erträge ausweisen.
Observing Hermann 