Poverty alleviation
Coalition advises on basic child protection: What are they actually arguing about?
When it comes to basic child security, Christian Lindner (FDP), Federal Minister of Finance, and Lisa Paus (Alliance 90/The Greens), Federal Minister for Family, still need clarification (archive image)
© Kay Nietfeld / DPA
Basic child welfare is intended to benefit children and young people who are affected or threatened by poverty or social exclusion. Nevertheless, the bill causes the next dispute in the traffic light coalition. Who demands what and what is important to whom.
Basic child welfare is considered the Greens’ prestige social policy project. The cabinet passed a bill in September with the aim of ensuring that basic child welfare comes into force on January 1, 2025. But many things are still unclear, which is why the coalition leaders will primarily discuss this issue on Wednesday.
Why does basic child support cause disputes?
The main point of contention for days has been the 5,000 new government positions that Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) had reported as needed for the large social project. The FDP continues to sharply criticize this – even if Paus had already weakened its demand at the weekend and indicated that fewer positions for the implementation of basic child protection would be conceivable in the future. On Monday, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit countered the impression that the reform was intended to create a bureaucratic monster. “The entire federal government is striving for the most efficient solution possible,” explained Hebestreit. Nobody “builds a large civil service apparatus out of jokes and foolishness”.
What bothers the FDP?
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has called on Paus to revise her draft law on basic child welfare. “It needs to be reworked,” said the FDP chairman of the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. The finance minister referred to two conditions agreed by the coalition as a basic requirement for the introduction of the new social benefit. “Firstly, there must be no disproportionate administrative effort, but rather there must be less bureaucracy through digitalization,” warned Lindner. Secondly, there should be no incentives for people to stop working because of higher social benefits. Both requirements “apparently do not exist” in Paus’ current draft, said Lindner.
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How does Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus respond to the criticism?
The Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus rejects the fundamental revision of the draft law on basic child welfare. “We passed the joint draft law in the coalition,” said Paus in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. Paus made it clear that Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD), Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and they had developed the draft together.
Since the federal government passed the draft law, it has been in the parliamentary process. Work is underway to dismantle duplicate structures. The current “bureaucratic monster” means that millions of children do not receive the services to which they are entitled, the minister criticized the current situation.
The coalition has agreed to reduce bureaucracy. “We do this by bundling the many different services that have been provided so far into one service,” said Paus.
What does the SPD say about the dispute?
The SPD parliamentary group is fundamentally behind the project. On Wednesday in Berlin, Parliamentary Secretary Katja Mast also pushed for significant changes to the draft bill from Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens). The decisive factor must be “that the money gets to the children more easily.”
“We want basic child security,” emphasized Mast. She also rejected calls from the FDP for a completely new draft law. Rather, the present draft by Paus remains “the basis for consultation for the parliamentary procedure”. However, there will still have to be “substantial changes” to this draft. The SPD politician pointed out the weak points that still existed, but without becoming more specific.
What else is the coalition committee discussing?
Negotiations on the budget for the coming year are still ongoing: the ministries are supposed to draw up savings proposals by April 19th, on the basis of which Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) will then develop a budget concept. Green party leader Britta Haßelmann said she expected that, among other things, foreign policy issues would play a role.
Sources: DPA, AFP, Lindner in the “Augsburger Allgemeine”, Break in the “ARD Morgenmagazin” on basic child welfare.