With the introduction of citizen money, people who receive money are no longer so strictly controlled. Trust should replace distrust, says the traffic light government. But is that justified? Experts advise against. A look at previous practice shows this.
It’s the biggest social reform in years: the traffic light coalition wants to replace Hartz IV with citizen income from next year. The reform is intended to simplify the system, it goes hand in hand with a sharp increase in payments and gives recipients more freedom. The possibilities for reducing benefits should be severely limited.
In the future, only limited benefit cuts should be possible in the first six months if someone has missed appointments at the job center. In the case of so-called breaches of duty, on the other hand, if reasonable work has not been accepted, there should be no more sanctions in the first six months.
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However, experience shows that sanctions have so far been a means that often had to be resorted to: According to the Federal Employment Agency, 13.6 percent or around 44,000 employable beneficiaries nationwide were recently subject to at least one sanction.
The group of under-25s is above the average: 15.3 percent. On average, those affected lost 14 percent of their benefits, which corresponds to 88 euros. However, the number has fallen because the number of controls has also fallen:
In 2008, from the job center’s point of view, almost 28 percent of job seekers avoided important deadlines and requirements and had to do without financial support: the monthly help cost them an average of 168 euros. In particular, the under-25s used the system at the time: almost 43 percent of them were sanctioned. Only in 2019 did the rate drop significantly.
This development is likely to become important on October 13th. Then the Bundestag will discuss the planned law on the new citizens’ income for the first time in a public hearing. This should not only replace the previous basic security.
A so-called cooperation plan, which is developed jointly by the job seekers and the job center employees, is intended to replace the previous integration agreements. After completion of the cooperation plan, a period of trust applies. During this period, special emphasis is placed on trust and cooperation at eye level. Only repeated failure to report would be sanctioned – with a maximum of ten percent reduction in performance.
This regulation is controversial within the Federal Agency. For many of those responsible, this is not enough as a means of pressure on people who actually refuse further training or a new job. The Cologne Institute for Economic Research also advocates maintaining the previous sanctions due to their proven short-term success and continuing to apply them – as confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court. The Karlsruhe judgment of November 2019 also allows a “total sanction” in the event of a total refusal by the beneficiary because they lack the need for help.
“Labor market research shows,” writes IW analyst Holger Schäfer, “that sanctions work: the people affected find work more quickly. This integration effect is wasted with the innovations.” In addition, it sends the signal to recipients that they can take their time with their integration efforts. In fact, every day that passes without taking up employment is decisive for the chances of integration.
According to Schäfer, the idea of introducing a two-year waiting period if the housing costs are reasonable does not seem fair. This can result in recipients of citizen income living in larger, government-funded apartments than the taxpayers who finance this benefit.
The prospect of an increase in savings is unnecessary: a couple aged 50 already has savings of more than 90,000 euros plus a property they live in. That is in the medium range for this age group.
While the employment agencies monitor the behavior of the beneficiaries when looking for a job, the social welfare offices are responsible for checking whether social benefits such as housing benefit or the money for the initial furnishing of a new apartment are being paid correctly. The employees of the “benefits department” spend about ten percent of their working time on these checks, reports a head of the social welfare office.
The problem they encounter the most: Couples move into separate apartments so that one person’s pension is not counted towards the other’s unemployment benefit II – this is also part of the lived reality since Hartz IV.
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The article “Fewer and fewer Hartz IV checks – it’s getting even looser with citizen income” comes from WirtschaftsKurier.
