The CDU and FDP’s worries are in vain
No wave of layoffs after the introduction of citizens’ money
March 3, 2024, 5:34 a.m
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There is currently concern in some companies that many employees are quitting. The reason should be the citizen’s money. A topic that also concerns the CDU and FDP. So far, however, there are no signs of this, as can now be seen from a request from the Greens.
The number of people in Germany now receiving basic security due to loss of employment fell to an all-time low last year, the year in which citizens’ benefit was launched. Around 341,000 people slipped from employment on the regular labor market to basic security in 2023 – 54,000 fewer than in 2022. This is shown by a response from the federal government to a request from the Greens in the Bundestag.
This means that in 2023, the year the citizen’s benefit was introduced, there was the lowest level of access for unemployed people to basic security for job seekers from regular employment since Hartz IV was introduced in 2005, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs. There is no evidence that there has been a wave of mass dismissals since the introduction of citizens’ benefit.
In October, the Federal Association of the Building Cleaning Trade, citing its own survey among its member companies, reported that in 28 percent of the companies, several employees had already resigned or had promised to resign with specific reference to the citizen’s benefit. Twelve percent more money for 5.5 million people 18 years after the start of the Hartz IV system, citizen’s money took its place at the beginning of 2023. The basic security rates had increased by around 50 euros. With the increase at the beginning of 2024, the 5.5 million people in need received an average of around twelve percent more money transferred to their accounts.
“Irresponsible propaganda”
Finance Minister Christian Lindner then said that the calculation method needed to be checked. The Union had repeatedly criticized citizens’ money. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann announced that his party would abolish citizens’ money in its current form. In view of cases in which employees end up with less money than recipients of citizens’ benefit, the Hartz IV successor opens a gap in justice.
Green MP Frank Bsirske, who made the request, accused the Union of “irresponsible propaganda”. Those who work full-time always have more in their wallet than in their citizen’s allowance, said Bsirske. “The numbers clearly show that fewer people have switched from a job to citizen’s benefit than ever before,” continued the former Verdi boss. The discussion about increasing the standard rates for citizens’ benefit did not lead to more terminations last year. Bsirske emphasized: “Citizens’ money ensures the minimum subsistence level if people in Germany get into an emergency or lose their job.”