But not 5000?
Paus appeases positions for basic child welfare
April 8, 2024, 12:18 a.m
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The issue seemed to be over for a long time, but it is currently flaring up again, the dispute over basic child welfare. The reason is the 5,000 authorities mentioned by the Federal Minister for Family Affairs for implementation. The FDP is diligently criticizing this. Now Paus gives in.
Despite the dispute within the coalition, Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus assumes that basic child welfare will come as planned by 2025. “Of course” the law will still undergo changes in the parliamentary process, said Paus in the ZDF “heute-journal”. The demand for 5,000 additional government offices for implementation denounced by the coalition partner FDP is “probably not the number” that will come, said Paus. This was merely “a forecast” from the Federal Employment Agency.
However, more staff are needed so that the authority can in the future “proactively address the families” who are entitled to benefits, said Paus. Millions of children are currently “lost in the jungle of authorities”.
The basic child benefit is intended to bundle several services for children and make them more easily accessible to families. The coalition wants to combat child poverty more effectively. The corresponding draft law was discussed in the Bundestag for the first time in November, but the legislative process has stalled and many details of implementation are still open.
“There will not be 5,000 new jobs,” said Green Party co-chair Ricarda Lang on the ARD program “Report from Berlin.” Therefore, “there is no reason for the debate to continue to get hung up on this number.” Regarding calls for a new draft law – also from the ranks of the coalition partners FDP and SPD – Lang said that “the impression arises that it is more about blocking basic child protection”. But the issue of child poverty is too serious for that.