“Gives the wrong impression”
CDU wants to rename “citizen money”.
October 7, 2023, 1:31 a.m
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The deficit in public budgets doubles within a year – also due to increased citizen’s benefit rates. CDU General Linnemann has announced a tougher approach to young unemployed people in the event of a change of government. The name of the social benefit should also be changed.
In the event of future government responsibility, the CDU is planning a comprehensive reform and a renaming of citizens’ money. “When the CDU is back in government, we will revise the citizens’ money,” said General Secretary Carsten Linnemann to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). “Then we will enforce and rebalance the principle of supporting and demanding more strongly again. This means: Anyone who is able to work and can take up a job must do so. And anyone who receives support benefits even though they could work also has an obligation to pay charitable activities.”
Linnemann further emphasized: “We will also change the term ‘citizen’s money’. It gives the impression that everyone is entitled to it. It doesn’t matter whether you can take care of yourself or not. But that is wrong.”
Sanctions for those under 25
The CDU wants to focus on young unemployed people during the revision. “We also want to pay more attention to people under 25. If they receive citizens’ benefit and do not accept offers of work or training, they must be held responsible and, if necessary, significant sanctions must be imposed,” said Linnemann. “It is not without reason that the Federal Constitutional Court explicitly referred to this target group in its ruling in 2019. Because it is particularly important for young people to act quickly so that they do not get off track.”
According to the latest data from the Federal office of statistics The debt in the overall public budget doubled during the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. The main reasons for the increased expenditure in social budgets are, among other things, the increased standard rates for citizens’ benefit, the statisticians said. Overall, the federal, state, local and social security systems closed the first half of the year with a financing deficit of 76.1 billion. In the same period last year it was only 32.9 billion euros.