Citizens’ income is one of the heart projects of the SPD. She wants to bury former Chancellor Schröder’s Agenda 2010 reforms. The criticism is fierce and there are two voices in particular that the comrades should listen to.
With the planned change from Hartz IV to a much more generous basic income, the SPD is primarily pursuing one goal: they want to finally break with the “agenda” policy of their former chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It is not surprising that this project by the traffic light coalition has been sharply criticized by both the opposition and business. But it should hurt the comrades all the more that one of yours thinks nothing at all of this reform: Sigmar Gabriel, ex-SPD chairman (2009-2017), ex-vice chancellor, ex-environmental, ex-economic and ex- foreign minister.
During his time as an active politician, Gabriel always acted as the advocate for the little man. But he can’t do much with Labor Minister Hubertus Heil’s (SPD) plan to significantly increase basic security and relax sanctions. In a conversation with “The Pioneer”, when asked where the state could save in view of the great financial challenges, Gabriel spontaneously thought of the citizens’ allowance in addition to the 9-euro ticket.
“I’m not a particular fan of citizen money,” Gabriel said. His reasoning: It leads to “those who work in the trades with little qualifications, if in doubt no longer have any economic incentive to go to work.” And the whole thing also costs a lot of money.
This is exactly how employers and trade associations argue, for example. They fear that the 12 percent increase in basic social security planned for January 1 will further shrink the gap between workers in the low-wage sector and recipients of basic income.
Gabriel is in good company with his critical attitude to this social reform. The Federal Employment Agency has already pointed out that the higher benefits could make non-working more attractive if sanctions are relaxed.
The Federal Court of Auditors has now judged the citizens’ allowance, which still has to be decided by the Bundestag, in an almost devastating way. Some changes could “prove counterproductive and lead to avoidable financial risks for the federal budget,” his report says.
The examiners have no understanding for the planned regulation that when applying for citizen benefit, the statement “no significant assets” is sufficient to benefit from the state benefits. “With the waiver of any information, the planned change opens up opportunities for takeaway and abuse,” is the harsh verdict of the examiners.
But where does a “considerable fortune” begin? In the first two years of receiving basic security, a family with two children can have 150,000 euros on the high edge without having to touch it. The auditors have no understanding of this new, “disproportionately high” asset limit. The Court of Auditors makes the following calculation: “For example, a couple with two children could receive citizen benefit despite 150,000 euros in savings and cash assets, additional assets that serve to provide for old age, two motor vehicles and owner-occupied residential property (of any size).”
The Court of Auditors also cannot understand that the state will no longer impose sanctions such as money deductions within a new six-month “period of trust” on those benefit recipients who reject job offers or support measures. Because the examiners assume – rightly – that benefit cuts have a “preventive effect”. They had a positive effect on the cooperation and the mediation process.
The conversion of Hartz IV into citizen income is the largest social reform in two decades. The higher benefits and the new generosity even towards people who notoriously refuse work leads to the question of whether working under the new framework conditions is still worthwhile for many people. Such indications from business or science cannot impress the Social Democrats and the Greens. But they can hardly dismiss Comrade Gabriel’s tip as “neoliberal propaganda”.
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