In view of the energy crisis, the FDP proposes a bonus for Hartz IV recipients who save on heating costs. In return, the recipients should share in the saved costs.
In view of the energy crisis, the FDP proposes a bonus for Hartz IV recipients who save on heating costs. “For many people, the significantly increased prices are the most important incentive to save gas,” said the vice-chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Lukas Köhler, to the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) on Saturday. “However, anyone who receives unemployment benefit II does not have this incentive, since the costs are usually fully borne by the job center.”
“In order to change that, I propose that the ALG II recipients be financially involved in the saved heating costs in the future,” said the FDP politician. “Anyone who uses less gas than in previous years would then be paid a large part of the heating costs saved as a result.” That could be 80 percent, for example. This means that “economical heating not only has an impact on gas consumption, but also directly on the account of ALG II recipients”.
“Especially in view of the high inflation, that would be a welcome cash injection without additional costs for the taxpayer,” said Köhler. The state would also benefit “if part of the money saved remained in its coffers”.
Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv), Ramona Pop, reported in the RND newspapers about a sharp increase in demand for energy advice. “Our energy consulting services are currently being overrun. Demand has increased significantly,” said Pop. “For this year, if we look at the progress so far, we expect 50 percent more energy consultations compared to 2021.”
