Essentially, nothing has changed in the proposed law – and yet it is currently again about basic child security. This could be a sign that the FDP is continuing to question the project as a whole.
Is the “traffic light’s biggest social policy reform project” in danger of failing? At least it’s being debated again – not for the first time. The reason for the renewed dispute is the question of whether 5,000 additional positions are actually needed for the family service planned by Family Minister Lisa Paus.
The number was estimated by the Federal Employment Agency and was not questioned by the Ministry of Family Affairs. The draft law was introduced by the cabinet in September and is now being discussed by the parliamentary groups.
Pause: “Reducing bureaucracy for the citizens”
The SPD, FDP and Greens clearly formulated the goal in the coalition agreement: “We want to get more children out of poverty and are particularly committed to digitalization and de-bureaucratization.” Nothing has changed in this plan. Opinions differ as to how it should be implemented in practice.
According to the draft law, several state benefits from child benefit to child allowance are to be bundled with basic child security. The new family service will be responsible for this as the central point. The family minister confirms that the new positions are correct and important for the implementation of basic child welfare.
Paus told the “Rheinische Post” and the “General-Anzeiger” last Saturday: “The additional staff means a reduction in bureaucracy for the citizens. At the moment they are carrying the burden of bureaucracy and have to run from Pontius to Pilate.”
From the obligation to collect to the obligation to deliver?
The aim of the 5,000 jobs is to move from the citizens’ obligation to collect to the state’s obligation to provide them, Paus continued. Sentences that she has been repeating in similar ways since the beginning of her term in office. For the minister, this seems to be exactly the core of the proposed law, because this means that there will probably be more applications than before and more children could be reached with basic child support.
For Paus and the Greens, a lot depends on the success of basic child welfare. Paus himself calls it the “traffic light’s biggest socio-political reform project.” But for two years she has not been able to present the proposed law without resistance.
The federal states made their concerns known at the end of last year. They fear duplicate structures with the previously responsible job centers and the new family service. The main accusation at the time was that there was a risk of more bureaucracy instead of less.
The criticism is the same
Nothing has changed in terms of criticism. It just got louder again this week from a different perspective. The deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Gyde Jensen criticizes: “We announced from the start that we would only approve basic child security or components of it if they abolish and relieve bureaucracy and not create new ones.”
The state must make it clear to people what their entitlements to aid are, but everyone then has to apply for it themselves. The FDP politician wants to continue negotiations, including with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Call for gradual introduction
The third coalition partner in the federal government, the SPD, is currently apparently in the middle. The deputy parliamentary group leader Sönke Rix emphasizes that basic child welfare is a very major social reform that affects various public bodies: job centers, the Federal Employment Agency, family funds. He thinks it makes sense to have a new authority that brings together all of the current services for children.
But he also says: “However, we also see that we cannot implement everything immediately. We probably need a gradual introduction, and we see that as a compromise line.” The SPD very much hopes that the Greens and FDP are still willing to continue working on compromises.
The deputy parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Maria Klein-Schmeink, is also open to introducing basic child welfare at least gradually. That seems to be the most likely path at this point.
Schneider: “She needs the Chancellor’s support”
The general manager of the Joint Association, Ulrich Schneider, sees Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s turn in the dispute within the coalition over basic child welfare. “It takes a word of power from the Chancellor,” said Schneider on Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday. Federal Minister for Family Affairs Paus cannot “enforce the interests of poor children alone.”
Schneider emphasized: “It needs the support of other partners in the coalition and, above all, the Chancellor.” He had already been involved in the debate about basic child security last summer. In a letter to the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, the SPD politician called for a unified draft bill by the end of August. Scholz also asked Paus to develop different variants and alternatives for the design of basic child protection. This was preceded by a weeks-long dispute between Paus and Finance Minister Christian Linder over the financing of basic child welfare.
Paus does not see the compromise as a defeat
The different views of the factions also became more than clear when interpreting the Chancellor’s letter. The Family Ministry viewed the letter as positive support from the Chancellor for the project. The FDP, on the other hand, understood the letter as a request to the minister to do her job. Lindner and Paus ultimately agreed on the sum of 2.4 billion euros – almost ten billion less than Paus had originally demanded.
Paus did not see the financial compromise, which was apparently made at her expense, as a defeat. The fact that the FDP is now once again questioning the project as a whole is probably consistent from the Liberals’ point of view. Despite the compromise in the cabinet, it can be assumed that the FDP wants to stick to its original demand to push for basic child welfare as a digital administrative reform.
It is not known how the Minister for Family Affairs feels about the recent debate, especially about the new positions for family services. At the request of the ARD capital studios there has been no response since yesterday morning. Just the reference to the parliamentary deliberations of the parliamentary groups. They run weekly, according to the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Family Affairs, Ekin Deligöz. She is optimistic that an agreement will be reached.
Lea Eichhorn, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, April 3, 2024 10:37 a.m