In the first year of the pandemic, the Bavarian Social Network – an alliance of socially or trade union organizations – had already warned that social turmoil threatened to increase in Bavaria. Several months later, the alliance feels confirmed. “As if under a magnifying glass, the corona pandemic has made inequalities and injustices visible and exacerbated,” says a joint statement by the organizations, which include, for example, DGB Bayern, Lebenshilfe, Diakonie, Paritätische and Caritas. Many people would have kept their jobs thanks to short-time working, but with low wages the short-time allowance was “barely enough to live on”.
A good 20 percent of employees in the Free State, especially women, work in atypical employment relationships such as mini-jobs. This “often brings with it an increased risk of poverty”. This also applies to those who work in professions that were classified as systemically relevant in the course of the pandemic – such as saleswomen in grocery stores or nursing assistants. Six demands on the political parties in Bavaria should at least contain the social drifting apart. Shortly before the general election, the Bavarian social network hopes to be heard more. This includes, in particular, the demand for a more determined approach to poverty. A year before Corona, almost everyone or every seventh person was threatened with “poverty or social exclusion”. In addition, it is also important to think of those caring relatives who have lost the support options due to Corona.