In the new year, the citizen’s income is to replace the previous Hartz IV. But the schedule could be shaky. At the beginning of the week, the Union followed up with further criticism and called for changes. The previous citizens’ allowance plans of the traffic light coalition went in the “fundamentally wrong direction” and would have “absolutely socially unfair effects”, said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on Monday on ZDF. “That’s why it needs more than just a bit of cosmetics, it needs a major overhaul.” Traffic light politicians warned the Union against blocking the project and accused her of populism. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was nonetheless confident about the legislative process.
Citizens’ income is one of the most important socio-political projects of the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP – “one of the largest social reforms in 20 years,” said Federal Minister of Social Affairs Hubertus Heil (SPD). Among other things, recipients should receive more money than is currently the case with the Hartz IV basic security. The standard rates should increase by around 50 euros. In addition, dealing with benefit recipients should be less strict with regard to the size of the apartment, assets to be counted and obligations to cooperate. Further training for the long-term unemployed should also be promoted more to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
The problem for the traffic light: In the Bundesrat, it is dependent on the consent of the federal states governed by the Union for its citizen income law. CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja had threatened a blockade. These are the sticking points:
Saving assets, apartment size, “trust time”
The CDU and CSU are also in favor of higher standard rates at the turn of the year in view of the inflation. However, her criticism is directed at individual rules in the citizen’s income, which in her view create “wrong incentives”. In the first two years of receiving the citizen’s allowance, the actual costs of the apartment should be recognized, even if it is larger and more expensive and is above the level classified as “appropriate”. This eliminates the pressure to quickly find a smaller apartment. Assets up to 60,000 euros and for each additional person in the household up to 30,000 euros should not be counted. Possibilities to reduce benefits are to be restricted by law in the first six months (“period of trust”) if, for example, reasonable work is not accepted.
Union politicians speak of “wrong signals” and “profound web errors” and warn that the basic income rules will reduce the incentive to take up work instead of claiming state aid. At the beginning of October, CDU leader Friedrich Merz also said on “t-online”: “With the social benefit that will be called “citizen’s allowance” in the future, it is often no longer worthwhile for immigrants to take up a simple job. And that is exactly what attracts people from many countries really starts, it creates a so-called pull factor.”
“Head free” for job search and further education
Traffic light politicians reject the criticism. Those affected should “have a clear head to qualify and further educate themselves, to look for new work and should not have to struggle” with using up assets or moving out of the apartment they previously lived in, SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert defended the plans on Monday on Deutschlandfunk . In the “Tagesspiegel” he called the criticism of the Union “a transparent and populist maneuver”.
The deputy leader of the Greens parliamentary group, Andreas Audretsch, told the German press agency: “Markus Söder and Friedrich Merz rely on bare populism and shameless false statements when it comes to citizen money.” Kühnert and Audretsch pointed out that the protective assets for Hartz IV recipients had already been increased to 60,000 euros by the grand coalition, i.e. by the Union itself, in the course of the corona pandemic. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai also told the Tagesspiegel that it was not the time “for tactical party maneuvers”. Delay and blockage have nothing to do with responsibility.
Schedule might wobble
How does it go from here? In the Bundestag, the passing of the Citizens’ Income Act is currently on the agenda for next week, Thursday. After that, the Federal Council still has to decide. If the law does not get a majority there, the Mediation Committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat would have a say. A compromise negotiated there would then have to be decided again by the Bundestag and Bundesrat, so that things could get tight with the introduction of citizen income at the beginning of the year. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said on Monday in Berlin that he was very confident that the legislative project would be completed before the turn of the year. “Confidence is high,” he said.
More money than compromise?
In mediation procedures, the federal states often ensure that they receive more money from the federal government for the implementation of the law in question. That could also be part of a compromise here. In a statement on the Citizens’ Income Act, the Federal Council had already asked the traffic light government to review the costs and compensate for additional costs for municipalities and states.
Questions and answers from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs on citizen income
