Social Affairs: Ministry: No reduction in citizen’s allowance | STERN.de

A reduction in the citizen’s allowance would not be possible based on the current legal situation. The Federal Ministry of Social Affairs has pointed this out. The updating of the so-called standard benefit levels will take place in accordance with the legal requirements, said a spokeswoman in Berlin.

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr had proposed a cut. The benefit is “currently 14 to 20 euros too high per month,” he told Bild, justifying this by saying that inflation had been estimated to be higher than it had actually been.

Ministry: Zero increase, but no cuts

According to the law, the citizen’s allowance rates are adjusted annually in accordance with the general price and wage development in the country, and current developments in certain prices, such as food or clothing, are also taken into account. The calculations for this so-called update will be made in the coming months. The citizen’s allowance adjustment will then be implemented by regulation at the beginning of each year.

Within the framework of this regulation, there is no scope for decision-making regarding the resulting contributions, said the ministry spokeswoman. “The following applies: If the update results in amounts that are below the applicable standard requirements, the amounts will be updated to the current level through a statutory property protection regulation.” A reduction is therefore not possible. According to previous information, there will probably be no further increase in the citizen’s allowance next year, but rather a zero increase.

The FDP’s proposal for new regulations has little chance of being implemented. After the SPD, the Greens also rejected the idea.