Citizens’ money: SPD parliamentary group also against Habeck’s “start-up financing”

There has been a heated row for days about the so-called “start-up financing for long-term unemployed people who take a job. The “Bild” newspaper, for example, happily calls the construct the “ass-up bonus” and has questioned a number of politicians about it in the past few days.

The money is to be paid out if recipients of citizen’s benefit accept a job that requires social security contributions and hold out for a year. In the meantime, more and more critics are speaking out, for example from the Union. But headwind is even coming from the parties in the Berlin government traffic light.

SPD parliamentary group against bonus for citizens’ benefit recipients

Since this Sunday, the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag has also been calling for the plan to be dropped. Martin Rosemann, their social policy spokesman, said: “The start-up financing was an express wish of Robert Habeck (Greens). As a specialist politician for the SPD, we share the concerns that the Ministry of Labor has always expressed,” he told “Bild”.

The SPD supported the instrument as part of the overall package of changes to citizens’ money. “But if the Green Party also voices criticism and the FDP also shares the concerns, then there is little reason to stick with it,” says Rosemann.

Last week, the cabinet decided to tighten the rules for citizens’ benefit recipients. If they refuse to work, they will soon face higher penalties. Part of the regulations is also so-called start-up financing. Long-term unemployed people who have been employed in a job subject to social insurance contributions for more than twelve months should be able to receive a one-off payment of 1,000 euros. The regulation is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2025.

“Sheer mockery for those who have been doing their job for years”

But as soon as this plan became public, criticism arose: “The 1,000 euro bonus is sheer mockery for those who have been doing their job for years. The traffic light endangers social peace and thus pours even more fuel on the fire,” he said CSU General Secretary Martin Huber said.

The Green Party social politician Frank Bsirske also rejects the plan, as he publicly stated, but for a different reason. “I don’t think the bonus is necessary. The vast majority of people on citizen’s benefit take a job anyway if they have the chance,” he was quoted by “Bild”.

The FDP budget politician Frank Schäffler, in turn, said: “The plan is absurd. Expenditure is already exploding.” The bonus must be stopped in the Bundestag, he demanded.

Criticism also came from the CDU employee wing. “This of course makes everyone despair who goes to work five or six days a week and still barely makes ends meet with their wages,” said the chairman of the Christian Democratic Workers’ Association (CDA), Dennis Radtke, in the newspapers Funke Media Group.

Habeck’s ministry thinks the bonus makes sense

The ministry of Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck defended the project. According to Habeck’s authority, the financing is intended as an incentive to find employment that secures a living.

In addition, the bonus should provide a counterweight to the loss of state benefits when starting work. “Employments with lower incomes are becoming unattractive due to high deductions for citizens’ benefit, child allowances and housing benefits, it was said. The problem is difficult to alleviate within the framework of current case law. The bottom line is that the state saves money with the bonus, their supporters claim.

According to the ministry, the basic idea for the proposal comes from the Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research (IAB) of the Federal Employment Agency. In the negotiations on the growth initiative, the idea was welcomed and developed by all three coalition partners. “In terms of content, the federal government is following current findings from labor market research.”