consumer
Pension, citizens’ allowance and postage: That will change in July
The Maestro function of giro cards will no longer be available in the future. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
The long holidays await children and young people, and many adults have more money in their wallets – consumers will be faced with these changes in July.
More money for pensioners, higher allowances for Citizens’ allowance recipients and a new function for e-prescriptions: people in Germany can look forward to relief in time for the holiday season. In some places, however, it is also more expensive. An overview:
pension increase
For the approximately 21 million pensioners, there is a significant increase for the second year in a row: In the west, the payments are increasing by 4.39 percent and in the east by 5.86 percent. With a monthly pension of 1000 euros, which is only based on western contributions, around 44 euros more end up in the account, with an equally high pension with eastern contributions almost 60 euros more.
care contributions
In view of rising costs, the care contribution will be increased by 0.35 percentage points – slightly more for people without children. Families with several younger children, on the other hand, should be relieved. The contribution is currently 3.05 percent of gross wages, and 3.4 percent for those without children. The nursing allowance is to be increased at the beginning of next year.
citizen money
From July there will be some relief for recipients of citizen’s allowance. This increases the allowances for employed persons. In the future, if you have an income of between 520 and 1000 euros, you will be able to keep 30 percent of this. For young people, there is an upper limit of 520 euros for a school or student job. At the same time, further training opportunities are being expanded.
short-time allowance
The simplified access to short-time work benefits from the pandemic and energy crisis will expire on July 1st. From then on, the following applies to companies again: At least one third (previously: 10 percent) of their employees must have a loss of wages of more than 10 percent per month.
Whistleblower Law
Whistleblowers who uncover abuses in authorities and companies are to be protected from dismissal and harassment from July 2nd. In addition, contact points must be created in authorities and companies that receive reports of fraud, corruption or violations of animal welfare or environmental protection rules.
e-prescription
People with statutory health insurance can call up the e-prescription in pharmacies with their insurance card. By the end of July, 80 percent of the pharmacies are expected to be connected to the system.
DHL
Some DHL customers will have to pay higher prices from July 1st: the postage for a 10-kilo package will increase from 9.49 to 10.49 euros. Services such as cash on delivery or bulky goods are also becoming more expensive.
gas storage levy
The gas storage surcharge, which accounts for a fraction of the price of natural gas, will increase to EUR 1.45 per megawatt hour (0.145 cents per kilowatt hour) from 59 cents per megawatt hour previously. For a single-family house with an annual consumption of 20,000 kWh, there are additional costs of a good 18 euros per year.
Maestro function
The Maestro function of giro cards, which allows you to pay and withdraw money abroad, will no longer be available for new cards in the future. However, the credit card provider Mastercard emphasizes that existing EC cards with a Maestro function will remain valid. Newly issued cards should therefore contain functions that go beyond Maestro.
TV summer break
Germany’s television viewers have to say goodbye to their usual formats in July – for a few weeks. For example, Sandra Maischberger (on the 12th), Maybrit Illner (20th) and Markus Lanz (23rd) go on talk holidays. In addition, July is a month without a fresh “crime scene”.
Big vacation
Again there is exactly one week in which all students in Germany have summer holidays together, namely from July 28th, when Bavaria is the last federal state to start the school-free period.