Hartz IV is dead, at least the so-called unemployment benefit II is to be replaced by the new citizen benefit from 2023. One should not confuse the citizen’s income with an unconditional basic income, because not every citizen is entitled to it.
Citizens’ income is a basic security benefit for job seekers and is intended to ensure that these people can secure their basic needs (minimum subsistence level).
Anyone who was previously entitled to unemployment benefit II or social benefit – currently there are 5.2 million people in Germany – will be entitled to citizen benefit in the future. It should not be necessary to submit new applications for this.
The cabinet has already approved the draft law, and the topic is now being discussed in the Bundestag. If the draft is accepted, citizen income should start on January 1, 2023.
But what are the cornerstones of the new citizens’ income?
With the citizens’ allowance, the reductions in performance are newly regulated according to the specifications of the Federal Constitutional Court. A new feature is a six-month period of trust, during which there are no legal consequences for breaches of duty. After the end of the trust period, the following rules apply:
(with material from dpa)
