Election programs: You should know these 8 ideas for the federal election

Time is running out. The early federal election will take place in nine weeks, with Christmas in between. The parties now quickly present their election programs. According to the motto: What lies under the Christmas tree stays for the whole year.

Drafts or finished programs are now available from almost all parties. The star has selected eight suggestions that will really change things in Germany. The party is secondary.

The SPD wants that Limit your own contribution to the care costs to 1000 euros. An evaluation by the Association of Replacement Funds eV (vdek) has shown that the personal contribution of those in need of care in nursing homes has increased again: to 2,871 euros per month in the first year of stay, another 211 euros more than a year before.

The SPD wants to provide “significant” relief to those in need of care and their relatives in the future with its “care cap”. “We will not neglect home care and will ensure that no one is worse off,” the Social Democrats promise in their election manifesto.

The topic is central: According to the latest figures from the end of 2021, almost five million people are now dependent on care. 20 years ago there were less than two million people. Covering costs is the minimum.

Every child should the state has its own stock portfolio receive. The Union wants to implement this after the federal election. “Young people should make their own capital-funded provisions as early as possible,” says the election manifesto. That is why ten euros per month should be paid into a funded, privately organized retirement savings account for every child from the age of six to 18.

Unlike other models – such as basic inheritance – the money should not be paid out at the age of 18. Instead, the deposit should serve as retirement provision. From the age of 18 you can continue to invest privately in the account.

The goal: everyone in the country should have a greater share in the profits on the stock market. Especially with broadly diversified funds, the average profit over the years is more than six percent. That no longer creates a savings account. Finally have courage!

No more appointments at the Citizens’ Office for your new ID card? No more trips to the town hall to register your new apartment? This is the idea of ​​the Greens with the so-called “Germany app”. “In this app you can in the future Apply for an ID card or register your new apartment with just a few clicks“ says the election manifesto. All state administrative services should gradually be accessible via it.

In addition, in the future, citizens and companies should only have to provide their data once if possible. “Then the various levels of administration have to resort to this themselves.” Digital administration – a few clicks in an app and the application is ready.

Too good to be true? So far, Germany is lagging behind when it comes to online services. This proposal would make everyday life easier for many people. Off to the future!

The Left’s draft election program reads like a colorful catalog of socio-political dreams. One of the most radical requirements is a “nationwide rent cap”. This is intended to replace the previous rent control. “Our goal: not just to slow down the explosion in rents, but to stop and reverse it,” writes the party.

As an immediate measure, rent increases must be ruled out for the next six years in places where the housing market is tight. “Graduated rents or index rental agreements should be banned,” demands the Left. Housing must be affordable. This is now part of the Union’s election program. So far, little has helped. Why not a radical step?

Driving licenses are hardly affordable anymore and train tickets are becoming more and more expensive. The SPD now wants to at least make the start easier: young people should have one at the age of 17 “Mobility pass” with a credit of 500 euros get, for example for driving license costs, but also for train tickets.

This is reminiscent of the “KulturPass”, which the traffic light coalition initially set up in 2023 with a credit of 200 euros. Cultural institutions praised the offer, which was used by well over 330,000 people (as of May 2024). In view of the immense driving license costs, many young people are likely to be happy about the mobility pass: acquiring a driving license can now cost between 2,500 euros and 4,500 euros, as the ADAC calculates. Every euro helps.

Every day you work a maximum of eight hours, in exceptional cases ten. To do this, every break must be recorded, the exact start of work and the end of working time. Larger employers are required by law to record everything digitally. The employees have to implement this. Labor law forces the increasingly flexible world into the eight-hour time clock day.

The Union now wants to introduce a maximum weekly working time. “In the future, a maximum weekly working time should apply to all companies instead of daily,” it says in the election manifesto. This would also eliminate the reporting requirements for employers and employees, as well as the excuses and fraud on the part of employees that raise doubts about the reasonableness of the legislators.

The current regulation is absurd: Not a single politician sticks to the eight-hour day. But politicians and unions impose these rules on companies and employees. The increased flexibility can only be good for the over-regulated labor market. Get out of the fully comprehensive society!

The Greens are reworking their own idea. The coalition agreement between the SPD, Greens and FDP government already mentioned so-called climate money. However, it was not implemented, also because there were concerns as to whether everyone should actually receive the compensation payment.

The Greens are now demanding: “All people with low and middle incomes receive compensation a large part of the revenue from CO2 pricing for building heating and transport as climate money.” This is a “promise of security,” they write.

Climate money could be a means of ensuring that climate protection does not lead to social disruption. Because: It is politically desired that climate-damaging energy sources such as gas and oil become more and more expensive. The CO2 tax will rise from the current 45 euros to 55 euros per ton in 2025. This affects the poor first and foremost and makes climate protection a question of wallet.

The Greens demand that the climate money should “go directly into the account and without prior application.” Climate money could maintain acceptance of climate protection measures or even increase them. A beautiful dream.

In one federal state, students go to school for 12 years, in the next 13 years. Here you can opt out of mathematics in the upper grades, there you calculate until the bitter end. For some, just getting through the Abitur is considered a success, for others anyone with a lower Abitur than 2.0 is looked at askance.

The FDP therefore wants to develop the German Abitur. This is what it says in the draft of the party’s election program. A uniform Abitur procedure for everyone. No more educational confusion, at least at the end of school. This creates fair conditions for everyone when starting their studies.

Should Bavarian children really learn differently than Lower Saxony children? That would be a good question for the Abitur. Correct answer: No. Made in Germany – this can also apply to the Abitur.