Citizens’ income is becoming increasingly expensive for the state. Calls for savings and more government severity are becoming louder. But what can actually be changed?
Should unemployed people have to take a job far away before they can receive citizen’s allowance? Should their social benefits be greatly reduced or even cut entirely if they refuse reasonable work? The debate on citizen’s allowance is revolving around these and similar questions during the parliamentary summer recess – an overview of the most important questions and answers:
Who can receive citizen’s allowance in Germany?
Citizens who are able to work and are entitled to benefits: You must be at least 15 years old and not yet of retirement age, live in Germany, be able to work at least three hours a day and be in need of assistance. This means anyone whose income is below the subsistence level and who cannot adequately cover their living expenses. Even those who are not able to work can receive citizen’s allowance – if they live with someone who is able to work in a so-called community of need.
Can the state reduce citizens’ income at will?
No. In a landmark ruling in 2019, the Federal Constitutional Court referred to the Basic Law: The design of basic security therefore arises from the fundamental right to a dignified minimum standard of living. This is because the state’s obligation is to respect and protect human dignity. The state is therefore tasked with creating the conditions for an independent life.
He can make his social benefits dependent on the fact that people cannot secure their own existence and on active participation. Sanctions are also permitted. However, according to Karlsruhe, the state must observe strict requirements of proportionality. According to the judges, a reduction in benefits of 30 percent until the person concerned starts to participate again is not objectionable.
Can the state completely abolish the citizen’s allowance?
Karlsruhe sets strict limits on this. The complete abolition is “incompatible with constitutional requirements based on current knowledge,” the ruling states. “There is no reliable knowledge that shows that a complete abolition of subsistence benefits would be suitable for promoting the goal of helping to overcome one’s own need for assistance and ultimately taking up gainful employment.”
What are the obligations to cooperate?
The application for citizen’s allowance must be submitted in person. All information must be correct, documents and certificates must be presented, and changes must be reported. If you become ill, you must present a certificate on the third day. Those in need of assistance must participate in measures to integrate you into work and apply for benefits when requested. You are obliged to accept any reasonable work that you are capable of.
What sanctions are available?
If obligations are breached, benefits will be reduced – in steps of up to 30 percent. Job centers will also be able to completely cut off unemployed people’s benefits for a maximum of two months if those affected persistently refuse to take up work. This has been in effect since March and was decided to close funding gaps.
How much are the latest decisions expected to save?
Stronger sanctions for “total objectors” are expected to result in lower spending of 150 million euros. At the same time, 500 million euros less was budgeted for the citizen’s allowance than originally planned, because the so-called “job turbo” is intended to help refugees find work more quickly. Last year, Germany spent around 42.6 billion euros on citizen’s allowance, compared to 36.6 billion the previous year.
What other tightening measures has the traffic light coalition agreed on?
With their growth initiative launched in July, the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on a number of points: a daily commute to work of 2.5 hours for a working time of up to six hours and three hours for a working time of more than six hours should be considered reasonable. In cases of refusal to accept reasonable work, a uniform level and duration of sanction of 30 percent for three months should be introduced, or one month for failure to report. If the person concerned cooperates again, the sanction should end. In the case of illegal work, the benefit should be able to be reduced by 30 percent.
Existing regulations for protected assets are also to be tightened. So far, job centers have only had to take significant assets into account in the first year of receiving citizen’s allowance. This waiting period is to be shortened to six months. Total objectors will increasingly have to accept work opportunities (one-euro jobs). The government wants to approve the changes in the cabinet in the second half of 2024.
Is the citizen’s allowance continuing to rise?
No. At the beginning of 2024, it had risen by a total of 12 percent. Since then, single people have received 563 euros a month, 61 euros more. But in 2025, recipients must prepare for a possible freeze. “We are currently expecting that, given the current declining rates of price increases, there may well be no increase on January 1, 2025,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Labor. The reason is that inflation is again low.
What are the CDU/CSU and FDP demanding?
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann is in favor of completely cutting off the citizen’s allowance for more than 100,000 people. “If someone is fundamentally unwilling to accept work, the state must assume that they are not in need. Benefit cuts of ten, 20 or 30 percent are not enough. Then the basic security must be completely cut,” he told the newspapers of the Funke media group. The deputy head of the Christian Democratic Employees’ Association (CDA), Christian Bäumler, responded that exposing people in Germany to hunger is incompatible with the Christian view of humanity. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai believes that the tightening measures adopted so far are not enough: “We want further reforms to the citizen’s allowance.”
Why did the figures for citizen’s allowance go up?
“The increase in the last two years is largely due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Dirk Heyden, head of the largest German job center in Hamburg, to the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Over a million people have come to Germany since then. Heyden also blamed the war for the recent high inflation and the resulting increase in need for assistance.
Is it even worth working with citizen’s income?
Usually yes, but not always. If you receive citizen’s allowance, child allowance or housing benefit, live in a larger household, a larger community of need and expand an existing job – then working extra is often not worth it. For example, a report by the Ifo Institute (Munich) and ZEW (Leipzig) commissioned by the government shows the small benefit of working extra for a single mother with two children. With a salary of 1000 euros, she earns a total of 2823 euros – with a gross salary of 1500 euros, she earns only a little more, 2907 euros.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
