Association “Sanction-free”
Here you help people who receive Hartz IV
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Helena Steinhaus and her association “Sanktionsfrei” campaign for people who receive Hartz IV. She knows what she needs from her own experience.
“A fuck”: When Helena Steinhaus talks about life with Hartz IV, she often finds drastic words. “Inhuman” is what the 34-year-old calls the consequences that recipients face in the event of misconduct, the standard rate of 449 euros per month is measly anyway.
Until recently, the job centers cut it by up to 30 percent if recipients did not show up for the agreed appointments, refused jobs or interrupted training courses. The sanctions are currently suspended for a year – an anticipation of the planned citizen income reform. But that’s not enough, says Steinhaus. “Missing appointments may continue to be punished with a ten percent reduction, even if only the second time.” And after the moratorium there will be sanctions of up to 30 percent again. “That is not how it works.”
Helena Steinhaus has had to refer to Hartz IV several times
The mother of one and a half year old twins has lived on Hartz IV herself. The first time as a teenager in the Ruhr area, when her single mother was no longer able to work as a teacher after burnout. Two more times, when she worked as a seasonal waiter after studying cultural studies and had no work in the winter. She knows what it’s like to suddenly have to move into a smaller apartment or to collect Payback points in order to be able to buy organic juice.
In order to help sanctioned Hartz IV beneficiaries quickly and unbureaucratically, she founded the association “Sanktionsfrei” in Berlin with colleagues in 2015. He compensates with donations what the state withholds. “This is how we make the job center’s strongest means of exerting pressure ineffective,” she says. “Anyone who is dependent on state aid should be guaranteed and protected without fear.”
Your association cushions sanctions from the job center
Most recently, about 1.5 percent of the approximately 3.5 million recipients who were able to work were sanctioned by Hartz IV. “That doesn’t sound like much,” says Steinhaus. “But due to the corona, operations in the job centers were limited for a long time. So there were fewer appointments that could be missed. And around 70 percent of the sanctions are due to missed appointments.” However, the constant threat would affect everyone – and stress those affected a lot. “The system is designed to catch bad guys, putting everyone under general suspicion. Most of those affected need support and proper encouragement – no extra obstacles in the way.”
Trust instead of distrust towards the unemployed
Objections to sanction notices can be lodged via the website of her association, whose business she now runs alone as a permanent employee, and is supported by a team of lawyers free of charge. Nobody has to justify themselves. “Each case is different. It’s not up to me to judge,” says Steinhaus. The rate of successful contradictions shows how much goes wrong. In around 90 percent of the cases complained about with the support of “Sanktionsfrei”, the job center had to pay back.
Once the reimbursement has arrived, the association asks the recipients to repay the support previously received. “That works by and large,” says Steinhaus. She relies on trust. The constant distrust that is shown towards the unemployed is outdated.
The sanctions are intended to motivate and activate, but the opposite is the case. Studies show that sanctions have the short-term effect that jobs are accepted. But on average, people are back in the job center after three months, and many withdraw.
She is proud of the 270,000 euros in donations that her association has been able to use to support those affected. Around 1000 permanent and some major donors fill the solidarity pot. “Even in cases where the job center does not grant a loan for increased electricity prices or other existential expenses, we help as long as there is money.”
She is now looking at the citizens’ allowance that the traffic light coalition is planning with a mixture of hope and skepticism. Basically, the idea goes in the right direction. But her concern is that even basic income will ultimately not bring about any profound change in the social system. “We should guarantee everyone a minimum without imposing any conditions,” she says. “It’s a matter of dignity.”