“Would save 30 billion”
CDU politicians for municipal work instead of citizens’ money
March 15, 2024, 12:47 a.m
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Citizens’ benefit recipients who can work should be put under greater pressure, says the Union. Parliamentary group vice-president Middelberg advocates assigning municipal work to those who refuse to do so and abolishing the standard rate for them. This could save billions in the social budget.
In order to reduce the burden on the federal budget by tens of billions of euros, Union parliamentary group vice-president Mathias Middelberg is calling for municipal job offers for citizens’ benefit recipients and the complete abolition of the standard rate. “If it were possible to place a million more people into work using citizens’ money, that would alone reduce the burden on the federal budget by up to 30 billion euros,” said the CDU politician to the Editorial Network Germany (RND).
“An effective means would be concrete public employment offers that municipalities could provide, for example,” emphasized Middelberg. “Unemployed citizens’ benefit recipients who repeatedly turn down reasonable job offers could be offered work, for example, at the city and municipal parks departments.”
The member of the Bundestag demanded a permanent 100 percent sanction if the job offers were rejected: “Anyone who then rejects such job offers should have their citizen’s benefit cut down to zero,” he told the RND. There should be exceptions for households with children with regard to accommodation costs. It’s about motivating those who can work to take up work. “Many of those affected are likely to be more committed to seeking employment in the regular labor market,” added Middelberg.
Labor Minister Heil: “Already permitted”
According to the CDU politician, the state’s savings in citizens’ money, other services and additional tax revenue would be extrapolated to 30 billion euros. Middelberg criticized: “Too high a proportion of citizens’ benefit recipients could work, but don’t.” Especially when it comes to asylum immigrants, it is not possible to get them sufficiently into work.
In the debate about compulsory work for asylum seekers, the Social Democratic Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said at the beginning of March that it was already permissible under current law “for municipalities to oblige asylum seekers who live in shared accommodation to do community service work.” This may also be the case in individual cases be useful in order to keep people busy “during the sometimes long waiting times in collective accommodation.”