Boris Palmer publishes Citizens’ Department of over 7000 euros

Hardly any topic is discussed politically and socially as controversial as the citizen benefit – not always based on facts. Boris Palmer also called the topic when he was a guest with other local politicians on Markus Lanz’s talk show. The mayor of Tübingen criticized the social spending in his view: “I saw a decision that a family of citizens’ allowance received 6,000 euros in a month.”

This anecdotal statement was then much discussed, many did not want to believe Palmer. But the former Greens politician followed: On his Facebook profile, he published the civil allowance notice from October 2022. This actually shows services of more than 6000 euros, in one month it is even more than 7,400 euros. The personal data is anonymous, according to Palmer’s statement on the show, it is about a family of seven.

Palmer claims that this high sum comes about through the so-called maternity leave regulation. In the first year of the benefits, the costs for the accommodation that are covered by the state were not capped. “You don’t want citizens to change the apartment immediately, so I understand that I first understand,” said Palmer at Markus Lanz. Nevertheless, he considers such payments to be clearly too high. The former Greens politician is committed to a regulation in which the rent is only reimbursed up to a height that depends on the size of the household and the rent.

However, the maternity leave was only introduced on January 1, 2023 – according to the decision, the family money of the family was already 6000 euros. The exact reasons for this cannot be found in the document. It is conceivable that the family is housed in a special accommodation of the city. There, the square meter prices – for example in Palmer’s city of Tübingen – are well above the normal rent index. In addition, the relatively high number of children plays a role, as does the high electricity and gas prices at the time of the decision. Citizens’ money includes control rates for adults and children, health and nursing care insurance as well as the costs for rent and heating in an appropriate amount.

“It is not about stepping down or settling citizens’ places,” clarifies Boris Palmer in his post. Nevertheless, in his opinion, state expenditure in the social area would have to be significantly lowered in order to be competitive again.

“It will no longer be possible to combine the highest social benefits worldwide and the lowest working hours with the longest vacation requirements,” he said to Markus Lanz. The mayor is disappointed in this regard from the coalition agreement between the Union and the SPD. Palmer’s demand: “Perhaps you can reduce again that the state helps against emergencies and that not every risk in the world.”