The suspension of sanctions for violations of Hartz IV regulations last year had a more negative impact on the placement of unemployed people than all of the citizen’s benefit regulations combined. This emerges from a study by Nuremberg labor market researcher Enzo Weber, which he published on the social media platform Linkedin.
The federal government had imposed a moratorium on sanctions in the second half of 2022 before the introduction of citizens’ money and practically waived cuts in funding in the event of violations of the Hartz IV regulations.
During this period, the number of Hartz IV recipients who switched to the labor market fell by 6.9 percent due to the moratorium, according to Weber’s study. “The measured moratorium effect means that seven out of 100 jobs that would previously have taken place in a month were no longer possible afterwards. This is on a noticeable and critical scale,” said Weber.
Citizens’ money: A much-discussed effect does not occur
Citizens’ money did not have the much-discussed effect of people giving up work and preferring to take advantage of citizens’ money. “Never before have so few people gone from jobs to basic security as today,” said Weber. However, the number of people leaving the citizen’s benefit for jobs is currently not increasing; with the introduction of the citizen’s benefit there was a negative effect of 2.6 percent. The number of long-term unemployed is 220,000 higher than before the corona pandemic.
An attempt must therefore be made to adjust the citizen’s allowance. Weber suggests faster adjustments to actual inflation instead of disproportionate increases in standard rates. In addition, not necessarily higher, but longer sanctions should be possible – with the possibility of them being lifted again if the conditions are met. There should be better financial incentives and start-up aid to increase income.
It is striking that just at the beginning of the moratorium in July 2022, the number of sanctions imposed fell to a minimum. “And the biggest decline in job opportunities actually occurs in July,” said Weber. At the same time, however, a comparable effect did not occur among the unemployed without Hartz IV.
