Our series on the federal election – part 3
Interview with Heidi Thiemann: “We need basic child benefits!”
© Marcos Angeloni
The managing director of the nationwide foundation for single parents “everyday hero: inside”, Heidi Thiemann, sees a positive, albeit slow change. What she is now demanding of the parties.
BRIGITTE: What has changed positively in recent years, and which party has campaigned for it?
Heidi Thiemann: 43 percent of all single parents are at risk of poverty today. Even though many of them work, the money is often not enough. This is also due to the fact that they are taxed almost as heavily as singles without a child! It works like a punishment, according to the motto: it’s your own fault if you break up. After all, the then Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) has had a statutory right to daycare for children under three since 2013. Manuela Schwesig (SPD) increased the maintenance advance in 2017 – if the ex does not pay – from six to 18 years. After single parents were first forgotten during Corona, Franziska Giffey (SPD) at least increased the days of childhood illnesses from 10 to 30 days per parent and child, for single parents there were 60 days. Only one-parent families hardly used them for fear of losing their job completely.
What is the most important thing for you that has to happen after the election?
The precarious situation of single parents in a rich country like Germany is unbearable. An example: A couple of parents spends around 20 percent of their wages on a child. For a single parent, that’s 35 percent, as she earns a lot less! She also has to pay extra for services such as childcare that would otherwise have been “for free” by a partner. That is why we first demand a solid basic child benefit that covers the actual needs of the children and that is not counted towards Hartz IV as before, for example in child benefit or maintenance. We need free childcare until the end of primary school, financial compensation for care work, fairer taxation of one-parent families and the abolition of spouse splitting – what feels like the last rock in the surf of patriarchy.
Which party do you mainly bet on?
The Greens, the Left and the SPD are planning basic child security. The FDP’s child chances benefit sounds similar, but if you take a closer look, children get less than they do now. All parties want tax relief for single parents, here the plans of the Left and Greens have particularly positive effects. After all, due to a move by the CSU during Corona, the annual relief amount for single parents was increased from 1908 euros to 4008 euros. That’s good, but not enough. Realistically, the amount should be closer to 9,000 euros.
Where do you not see this topic at all?
The Union and FDP are more aimed at tax relief for top earners and, together with the AfD, stick to the splitting of spouses. In the 140-page electoral manifesto of the Union, the word “single parents” appears exactly three times – in two places there is simply one and the same sentence.