unemployment
Tightening of citizens’ allowances is limited to two years
If those affected consistently refuse to take up work, the job center can cancel the citizen’s benefit for a maximum of two months. photo
© Jens Kalaene/dpa
Citizens’ benefits should be completely canceled if someone persistently refuses jobs. This tightening triggered protests. Now the planned regulation is being changed.
The planned tightening of possible sanctions Citizens’ benefits should be limited to two years. The German Press Agency in Berlin learned this from coalition faction circles.
The planned regulation provides for the possibility that in the future job centers will completely cut off citizen’s benefit for unemployed people for a maximum of two months if those affected consistently refuse to take up work. “The regulations on the withdrawal of standard requirements in the event of refusal to work are limited to two years after they come into force,” says a new version of an amendment to the Budget Financing Act.
The tightening of sanctions is part of a savings package for the 2024 budget. The planned regulation on citizens’ money is expected to bring savings of around 170 million euros per year – 150 million for the federal government and 20 million for the municipalities. Accommodation and heating costs should not be eliminated. So far, the sanction options for citizens’ money have been comparatively moderate: 10 percent for missed appointments, up to 30 percent for failure to apply or take courses in violation of the agreement.
Complete sanction is being reviewed
Whether the possibility of complete sanctions should remain permanent after two years will then be decided on the basis of a review. The Federal Ministry of Labor should coordinate with the Federal Employment Agency and its research institute for labor market and career research on how this can be included in the ongoing evaluation of citizens’ benefit.
The Greens in the Bundestag, who had heavily criticized the tightening, claimed to have enforced the time limit. “We have ensured that the regulation will automatically disappear from the law,” said parliamentary group deputy Andreas Audretsch to the German Press Agency. Until then, the application and effect would have to be intensively monitored and checked.
Greens concerned about citizens’ money debate
“Nobody in Germany is allowed to be deprived of the money they need for food and drink,” said Audretsch. The possibility of completely abolishing citizens’ money directly affects Article 1 of the Basic Law, i.e. human dignity. “In its 2019 ruling, the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the subsistence minimum in Germany must be guaranteed at all times.” Audretsch was concerned about the current debate about people who receive citizen’s benefit. “The fact that the CDU is even suggesting that the Basic Law be changed in order to circumvent the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling is irresponsible.”
Union parliamentary group vice-president Jens Spahn (CDU) had suggested a constitutional amendment for stricter sanctions on citizens’ money. “People who can work and receive a job offer but do not accept it should basically no longer receive citizen’s benefit,” the CDU politician told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “If a general deletion is not covered by the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, we should simply change the constitution.”