It was supposed to be the Greens’ social prestige project, initiating a “system change” for Germany. Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) regularly repeats that basic child welfare is “the biggest social policy reform project in the traffic light.” But nothing has happened for months. standstill. The latest figures on the subject of poverty speak for themselves. According to the poverty report of the Joint welfare association More than 14 million people in Germany were affected by poverty in 2022. More than one in five children is poor. The association is calling on the federal government to adopt a “decisive poverty policy” – this also includes basic child security.
The federal government agrees that child poverty in Germany must be combated. But how is still being hotly debated in the coalition. Above all, one point of criticism of basic child security was of concern to politicians over the Easter weekend: According to estimates by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, essentially 5,000 new jobs would have to be created in order to secure the planned family service’s personnel. For what reason? The ministry explains Süddeutsche Zeitung, that the planned job creation means a reduction in bureaucracy for citizens. Since they are currently carrying the burden of bureaucracy, many would not even take advantage of the services. “With the 5,000 positions, the aim is to move from the citizens’ obligation to collect to the state’s obligation to provide them.” This means that there will probably be significantly more applications than before. Basic child support could – if it reaches everyone who needs financial support – be up to 5.6 million Children and young people arrive.
The SPD is in favor of a gradual introduction of basic child welfare
From 2025 onwards, the basic child benefit is intended to bundle previous benefits such as child benefit, benefits from citizen’s benefit for children or the child allowance. In September, the draft law by Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) was passed by the federal cabinet and subsequently submitted to parliament. A large proportion of children, namely those who have previously been supported by the job centers as part of citizens’ money, will in future receive help from the new family service instead. Experts criticize this because families on citizen’s benefit would have to turn to another authority. Declared goal: The law should come into force on January 1, 2025.
SPD deputy Sönke Rix doubts that this will still be possible. “Unfortunately, we only received the draft law late in this legislative period as parliament. And since basic child protection is so complex and the government draft does not sufficiently meet our goals, we will not be able to avoid introducing it gradually,” he tells the South German newspaper upon request. We’re dealing with one of the biggest social reforms in recent years, which is why we shouldn’t “jump on anything.”
The issue of basic child security has not been ignored. The project was controversial in the federal government for a long time. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Lisa Paus had struggled for months to finance the service. Paus expected expenses of twelve billion euros. But Finance Minister Lindner criticized the lack of a concept that underpinned the bill. He initially only wanted to budget two billion euros for basic child welfare. Ultimately, the coalition planned additional spending from 2025 initially amounting to 2.4 billion.
Lisa Paus has not yet been able to present an acceptable draft law
But despite the financial agreement, the debate between the coalition partners does not stop. Christian Lindner criticizes the planned job creation of the Ministry of Family Affairs. “I find the idea that the state has an obligation to pay social benefits disturbing – especially when 5,000 new state employees have to be hired to achieve this.” The state should not wean people off personal responsibility, said the FDP leader, according to the German Press Agency. Deputy parliamentary group leader Gyde Jensen agrees with his criticism. “In the negotiations so far, Ms. Paus has not been able to present a bill that can in any way meet the goal of combating child poverty.” This makes it all the more difficult to “continue to negotiate seriously if one has such a questionable understanding of the state’s obligation to provide social policy.”
For the family policy spokeswoman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Silvia Breher, basic child welfare is the “biggest social and family policy deception in the traffic light.” Instead of reducing bureaucracy, new ones are being created. “Money that should actually benefit children and young people is being put into 5,000 new positions for family services,” said Breher. In order to combat child poverty, families must be strengthened with “a pragmatic, ideology-free policy.”