The Taxpayers’ Association (BdSt) publishes its “Savings Book 2024” and takes on the “bureaucracy monster” of basic child security in one chapter. This was concocted by Lisa Paus (Greens), the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs. It is now considered questionable whether the controversial basic child protection will be introduced at the beginning of 2025 as planned. One aspect that has hardly been discussed at all so far is the renaming from “Family Fund” to “Family Service”, which, according to the BdSt, costs three quarters of a million euros. The “Tagesspiegel” first reported.
“Due to the expanded tasks, the ministry seems to be tired of the name ‘family fund’, which is why it should operate under the name ‘family service’ from 2025,” analyzes the lobby organization BdSt. The costs for this consist of “e.g. new authority signs required nationwide, development of a corporate design, adaptation of the new name in IT and print products” and therefore total 750,000 euros.
These costs arise without there being any (family policy) added value. This goes against the grain for the BdSt: “In the federal budget, every euro is being haggled over in order to plug budget holes and comply with the debt brake – there are also billions in gaps in social insurance. But 750,000 euros for two new syllables doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Ministry of Family Affairs.” , is the criticism. “Priority setting and tact look different from the BdSt perspective!”
With the basic child security as part of the “Family Service”, the federal government wants to bundle previous benefits such as child benefit, benefits from the citizen’s benefit for children or the child allowance. The aim is to ensure that all families who are entitled to corresponding benefits will receive them in full in the future. According to the Family Ministry, this has so far only been the case for a fraction.
The BdSt then uses an example to explain how a more economical use of taxpayers’ money can be achieved: The Federal Ministry of Economics under the leadership of Robert Habeck wanted to convert Bafa from the “Federal Office of Economics and Export Control” into the “Federal Office of Economics” “for around 135,000 euros”. “, Foreign Trade and Climate Protection”. “After several critical inquiries from the BdSt”, the ministry changed its mind and “backed out”. “It was decided not to pursue the considerations of renaming Bafa any further,” says the BdSt, summarizing its success.
Sources: BdSt, “Tagesspiegel”
