After a long struggle, the traffic light coalition and the Union have cleared the way for the planned citizens’ allowance. The mediation committee still has to approve the compromise. FOCUS online gives an overview of what the press is writing about the compromise on citizen income.
The citizen money has a good foundation. In practice, however, it will remain difficult. The job centers are already overloaded. Many intermediaries have far too many unemployed people in their files. In addition, all war refugees from Ukraine currently go directly to the Hartz IV system or, from January, to basic income. They too need to be looked after. The Federal Employment Agency faces further challenges with the new housing benefit. There is a risk that the job centers will be overwhelmed.
Union and Ampel have agreed on a compromise on citizen income, which at first glance looks like the great victory of the opposition. At second glance, however, the Union’s outcry about citizen income was greater than the actual criticism
The Union presents itself this Tuesday morning as the winner of the preliminary hearing. The negotiators announce that they brought down the gross flaws in the citizens’ allowance reform. Now Germany is saved from the unconditional basic income that the traffic light socialists were planning.
The big sayings of the Union hide the fact that they never actually considered the citizen money to be wrong in its entirety. Even if she always spoke of the great chaos, she supports a large part of the reform. And so she doesn’t stand out as a winner because the traffic light negotiated badly. She stands out as a winner because all her concessions don’t hurt her. The outcry was greater than the actual criticism.
“Why should the employees in the job centers stand by and do nothing when the recipients of state aid miss appointments or don’t keep agreements? The traffic light wanted to rely on personal responsibility here, the obligation to bring the unemployed should be hidden. This non-binding nature with full state support was a clear flaw in the citizen income law. And ultimately also an impertinence for the employees in the job centers who are dependent on the cooperation of the recipients of state benefits. As a result of the negotiations, this “trust period” is now being abolished. Failure to comply will be punished from day one. It’s a right decision”
“It’s just a shame that the actual core of any unemployment benefit was lost sight of in the dispute or was marginalized in the discussion about waiting periods, protective assets and living space. Of course, all of these points are and were debatable, even if the number of benefit recipients affected is negligible, and in some cases in need of improvement. But the actual task of any unemployment assistance must be to qualify people (again) for adequately paid work, to motivate them, to train them and to bring them together with potential employers – so precisely that a permanent employment relationship can develop.”
“At least the agreement proves that the government and the opposition can pull themselves together. Yes, the CSU made a fool of itself when it spread questionable “calculations” from the dull right-wing corner about the allegedly missing wage gap. Later, however, the CDU and CSU found the objective and constructive role that the opposition must play in a democracy. In this way, a good proposal has actually gotten better: the compromise strikes the balance between those who receive government payments – and the workers who pay for the support with their taxes.”
“It’s good that basic social security is to start again after 20 years with citizens’ allowances. Fortunately, the compromise that the traffic light parties have negotiated with the Union is better than the polemical debate beforehand. Those affected in relation to Hartz IV can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The urgently needed increase in salaries in times of inflation from January 1, 2023 has been secured.”
“The citizens’ benefit announced as the “biggest social reform of the last 20 years” is nothing more than a small reform of Hartz IV. The compromise between the traffic lights and the Union provides for many of the small reliefs to be deleted again. The traffic light draft law already contained only a few improvements for those drawing basic security. Instead of abolishing sanctions, it should still be possible to reduce the subsistence level. Also – contrary to the propaganda of the Union – in the first six months. Reasons for sanctions that are rarely used should be suspended during this “time of trust”. But even that is no longer provided for in the compromise proposal. For those affected, the citizen’s allowance even means a deterioration in terms of the sanctions. Finally, the moratorium on sanctions is still in force, in which some reasons for benefit cuts are suspended.”
“The SPD and the Greens have had the core of their labor market reform broken out. The most important message of the agreement on citizens’ benefit is: From January there will be 53 euros more for recipients of Hartz IV. But that’s almost where the good news ends. The SPD and the Greens have broken out the core of their labor market reform, with which they wanted to implement the farewell to Hartz IV. The period of trust is eliminated, i.e. those six months during which the job centers should refrain from threatening sanctions. This reduces the hope that those affected will feel less bullied and more supported. (…) The FDP has clearly distanced itself from the SPD and the Greens. She thinks the law is better now than before. In other words: it is on course for union. This underscores once again that the traffic light coalition is nothing more than an alliance of convenience.
“Both sides can claim to have prevented “the worst”. The Union, because it successfully defended the tried and tested; SPD, Greens and FDP because they were able to save the core of their draft law. Above all, however, it is important that the material parts of the social reform have been improved. This result speaks for itself. The fact that the traffic light coalition dropped the “trust period” and agreed to halving the “waiting period” and reducing the “savings” by almost half shows that the Union was not entirely wrong in its criticism. All three interventions increase the incentives not to lose sight of the job search in favor of state-sponsored convenience. The outrage at the Union’s objection therefore subsequently proves to be a class-struggle bugbear.”
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