social
Lang for wage replacement benefits for caring relatives
For Ricarda Lang, caring relatives are “the pillar of our health system that is often underestimated”. photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
For the Green leader, caring relatives are “the pillar of our health system that is often underestimated”. Accordingly, their commitment must also be supported financially.
This requires a care leave law that makes it easier for caring relatives to reduce working hours and that better reflects “social reality”, said Lang. “For example, people who care for an aunt or a neighbor that they can also fall back on it.”
The Greens leader added: “And in the long term, so if I now look to the next few years, then I think a wage replacement benefit is right, so that we also support caregiving relatives like we do with parental allowance.” This demand had recently been raised by politicians from the CDU and CSU.
Long: protection against poverty in old age
There are various ways of financing such a service, said Lang. “You can also look at long-term care insurance to see how we can continue to increase the contribution basis in the future, i.e. how we ensure that more people pay into long-term care insurance.” One could also talk about tax subsidies. Companies can also be held responsible. “I’m open to various possibilities. I wouldn’t commit myself to that. In the end, it’s important that there is this permanent support.” It is also about protecting women, who often take on the care, from poverty in old age.
Long described caring relatives as “the pillar of our health system that is often underestimated”. Four out of five million people in need of care are cared for at home, often without professional support. You have “huge respect for the performance of these people”.