The federal government has set itself the goal of providing more support to families with low incomes and freeing children from poor backgrounds. This should be done by the basic child security, one of the largest socio-political projects of the traffic light coalition, Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) wants to pay significantly more money to poorer families. Will this money actually reach the children? Will it help to break the vicious circle in which sons and daughters from poorer families end up in poverty themselves?
In these crucial questions, Paus is now receiving support from experts, who delivered an assessment on Tuesday at the invitation of the Bertelsmann Foundation in Berlin. “The cash benefits reach the children, there is no systematic misappropriation of the aid, for example for televisions,” said Holger Stichnoth. The professor conducts research at the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) and has examined the use of state aid such as child benefit or state education allowance. Five federal states pay this to low-income families. According to Stichnoth, fathers or mothers using extra help for more alcohol or cigarettes is more of a myth than reality, although it does occur in isolated cases.
The plans of Family Minister Paus envisage bundling the previously diverse state aids for families from child benefit to citizen benefit in a basic child security system. There should be a guaranteed amount for everyone and an additional contribution that depends on income. Those with low income should receive more money. The key points recently presented by Paus are controversial. The FDP in particular had objected that basic child security should not be too expensive or discourage parents from working.
Consider the children’s wishes more
Sabine Andresen welcomed Paus’ plans, so far the wishes of children have not been given enough consideration when it comes to state aid. “It is important that children and young people can have a say in their needs,” said the professor of social education and family research at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and vice president of the German Child Protection Association. Telling children what the state should finance for them – is that naive? No, says Andresen. “Children are very capable of assessing what is important.”
According to Andresen, the previous aid, such as citizen income, does not cover everything that would be necessary for the children to have good opportunities, such as Internet access. However, this is important for homework or other educational issues. “Even the costs for school supplies have not yet been fully covered,” said Andresen.
However, the two researchers have not yet been able to answer a crucial question: does it help to invest more in infrastructure such as day care centers and after-school care centers, or can direct payments to families have a greater impact? It is a dispute that has occupied politicians and social politicians for a long time and that is likely to revive again in the case of basic child security. After all, said Stichnoth, experience from the USA has shown that more help for poorer children is worthwhile. There, support in the first year of life meant that the children achieved better educational results and later higher incomes – instead of being dependent on state aid again.