consequences of inflation
Petition: Make school lunches free because of the price explosion
School lunches as a fundamental right? At least that’s what the German school catering network demands. photo
© Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
“It must not happen that up to 10 euros per meal have to be paid,” argue the initiators. As early as July, one in three feared having to take on a part-time job in the future.
So far, more than 24,000 people have signed a petition for free school meals in Germany. This is reported by the German school catering network (DNSV), which launched the petition addressed to Federal Youth Minister Lisa Paus.
In the petition, the DNSV demands that all schoolchildren should have a free hot lunch every day as a fundamental right. “In Germany, every child must have the same opportunities for healthy development and education,” it says.
Because of the current cost increases, the prices of lunches in school canteens would also increase. “It must not happen that up to 10 euros per meal have to be paid.” This leads to parents canceling the daily meal – and it is threatening the existence of the food suppliers.
According to their own estimation, every third person has to accept a part-time job
According to a recent survey, a third of Germans expect to have to take on a part-time job because of the extremely high prices. In the group of those under 55, about every second person thinks it is likely that extra income will be necessary to improve their personal financial situation.
The survey by the credit agency Crif was already carried out in July – i.e. before the general inflation rate in Germany exceeded the ten percent mark.
Above all, the prices for energy and food have increased extremely in the past few months. According to preliminary official information, consumer prices in Germany in October were 10.4 percent above the level of the same month last year – this is the highest value for around 70 years.
The majority believes that they can continue to pay current bills
At the time of the Crif survey, the vast majority of the 1,000 adults surveyed in Germany said they were confident that they would be able to service current bills (82 percent) and, for example, rent payments (92 percent) in the future. But as early as the summer, a third of people (33 percent) feared that their standard of living would deteriorate over the next twelve months.