Some are “a little surprised”, others are even “disturbed” – the traffic light is arguing about basic child welfare. So everything is the same? There could be an incentive.
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Dear readers,
I hope you had a wonderful and contemplative Easter. As far as Berlin politics are concerned, it remained a pious wish of my colleague Benedikt Becker: Last week he wrote about the power that could be developed if the constantly arguing coalition members decided to take a week of Easter rest.
Things turned out differently: Family Minister Lisa Paus from the Greens spoke to the “Rheinische Post” about, among other things, basic child welfare, i.e. the project with which the traffic light wants to combat child poverty. After much back and forth, the cabinet approved the draft last September, and it has been stuck in parliament ever since.
Tempers are heated on the topic. This can be seen from the fact that Paus attracted angry reactions to her statements, which are actually not new. Even a long Easter weekend didn’t help. When asked why 5,000 new jobs were needed for implementation, Paus said: The aim was to “move from the citizens’ obligation to collect to the state’s obligation to provide it”. Finance Minister Christian Lindner finds such an idea “disturbing.” In typical liberal fashion, the FDP politician naturally wants to prevent the state from “weaning” citizens from personal responsibility.
Simply because we are in a coalition with the FDP, the term “debt to pay” (which Paus used not just recently, but from the beginning) was not a happy choice. What she actually wants to say: Families should be made more aware of the support services that they could be entitled to for their children (even today). Through a “basic child welfare check” that automatically checks eligibility and informs parents.
This may sound banal at first. However, the federal government assumes that the so-called child allowance only reaches around a third of the children who are actually entitled to it. Families can receive the benefit in addition to child benefit if at least one parent works but their income is still not enough.
If this money reached more families than before, it could have long-term positive effects, at least that’s what it suggests a study by the two economists Tom Krebs and Martin Scheffel. Because avoiding child poverty means, among other things, that children have more success at school and then also in the job market. Therefore, the planned basic child welfare benefits could increase overall economic production by 11.3 billion euros per year by 2050, according to the two researchers in the study for the Hans Böckler Foundation. As a result, after 18 years, annual net revenues have exceeded the amount of money that needs to be spent on the reform.
This could be an incentive for everyone involved to make basic child welfare a success. Perhaps in the end we need a way to achieve this that does not require 5,000 additional employees in a new authority. Even the SPD is “a little surprised” by the number. Party leader Lars Klingbeil said he believes that there is still room for reductions.
In the search for a viable red-green-yellow path, the clock ticks louder every day. At the end of the legislative period, some points from the coalition agreement will not have become reality. If the three traffic light partners continue as before, basic child security could be included.
PERSON OF THE WEEK
is Peter Altmaier. Wait a minute, you might be asking yourself: Doesn’t he have anything more to say? It’s true, in 2021 the former CDU minister and Merkel confidant withdrew from professional politics.
My colleague Miriam Hollstein and I wanted to know from him and four other former top politicians how they are doing today. How does the view change? What do they miss and what don’t they miss? Altmaier said: “If you only see life after politics as a minus – less meaning, fewer opportunities, fewer resources, then it will be difficult. You have to see it as a new beginning.”
Perhaps the protocols will also be of interest to CSU politician Andreas Scheuer. The former transport minister (keyword: toll debacle) actually wanted to leave the Bundestag at the end of the legislative period, but has now surprisingly brought the date forward to April 1st. He seems to have already planned for the time after politics. A report from “Business Insider” suggests that the 49-year-old will work as a management consultant in the future.
AND OTHERWISE?
Wolfgang Schäuble sat in parliament for more than 50 years, was a minister under Helmut Kohl and Angela Merkel, and finally President of the Bundestag. Schäuble died on December 26, 2023 at the age of 81. The star is now exclusively publishing excerpts from his memoirs, which will be published next week. One thing is certain: He has a lot to tell – for example who wanted to incite him to overthrow Angela Merkel.
LOTS OF FAVORITE
Your highlight of the week
is an interview with Marc Wallert from Göttingen, who was kidnapped by terrorists while on vacation in Malaysia 24 years ago. In a conversation with my colleague Miriam Hollstein, he not only talks about how he survived the four and a half months as a hostage, but also how an entire society can deal better with crises.
My highlight of the week
is the new column by colleague Nico Fried. In it he writes about the strange communication channel that the traffic light government has discovered: writing letters. In this case, however, there should be no talk of pen pals, as the tone is often too tense for that. What does that mean then? This way.
It usually sounds less passive-aggressive – and we are very happy about that – when you write to us. Last week, my colleague Veit Medick received greetings from, among other things, the Danish island of Rømø. The reader wrote that she wanted her vacation there to be peaceful and hopeful. We hope that worked.
Have a good week and see you next time.
Heartfelt,
Lisa Becke
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