“There are still many unanswered questions”
FDP is once again slowing down on basic child welfare
October 6, 2023, 5:11 a.m
The cabinet waved through the Greens’ pet project after a long dispute. But now the FDP is once again setting conditions: basic child welfare must be examined for its bureaucratic burden. The law is also intended to provide work incentives. That sounds like a lot of work for Minister Paus.
The FDP parliamentary group only wants to agree to basic child welfare under certain conditions. There are “still many unanswered questions” about the bill passed by the Green Family Minister Lisa Paus in the Federal Cabinet last week, said the first parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group, Johannes Vogel, to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. It’s about whether bureaucracy is effectively reduced” and “the new administration and division of authorities really works.” The legislative process will definitely “take some time,” said Vogel. He also demanded as a condition for approval that the Basic child welfare is embedded in an overall concept to strengthen work incentives in the welfare state.
The FDP politician recalled an agreement from the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, according to which a scientific commission should develop a reform concept for stronger work incentives. “We can only decide on basic child welfare in the Bundestag once the results of this research contract are available and incorporated,” said Vogel. Little is known publicly about the commission. According to “FAZ”, the Munich Ifo Institute is involved. The project duration is given as March to December 2023.
Social security reform should come first
In the coalition agreement, the traffic light parties had agreed to launch a reform “that would better coordinate citizens’ benefit (formerly unemployment benefit II), housing benefit and, if necessary, other tax-financed social benefits” in order to strengthen work incentives. That is why basic child security cannot be decided without taking this into account, argued Vogel. With basic child security, the traffic light government wants to reorganize family benefits such as child benefit and child allowance and make them more easily accessible to those entitled.
After a long dispute between Family Minister Paus and Finance Minister Christian Lindner over financing, the Federal Cabinet passed a draft law last week and put it through the parliamentary process. In addition to the Federal Employment Agency, concerns about organizational difficulties had previously been expressed by the municipal umbrella organizations that are also responsible for the job centers in the citizens’ benefit system. The German District Association had even warned of an “administrative disaster” due to new dual structures of job centers and family funds.