Social - CDU calls for fundamental reform of the citizens' allowance
The CDU in Lower Saxony's state parliament has joined the call for a comprehensive overhaul of the citizen's allowance. "The citizen's income must be abolished in its current form. We need a new approach that provides more incentives to take up work and at the same time creates the opportunity to get back into work quickly," said opposition leader Sebastian Lechner. Anyone who refuses to accept a job must be sanctioned from the outset, demanded the parliamentary group and state leader. There are many job vacancies in Germany and there is a shortage of workers in many areas.
At the weekend, Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder (CSU) had already announced that he wanted to fundamentally revise the citizen's income via a Bundesrat initiative. Söder also called for the increase in benefits planned by the federal government for 2024 to be postponed.
The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband described the debate on the citizen's income as cynical. "This is clearly a discussion on the backs of the weakest in our society. With the citizen's income, those affected are already living at the absolute minimum subsistence level," said state chairwoman Kerstin Tack on Monday.
Instead, the standard rate must be increased from the current 502 to at least 813 euros per month for single adults in order to compensate for inflation and protect against poverty. An increase to 563 euros is currently planned for 2024. "The increase in the basic income at the beginning of 2024 must come, anything else would be unconstitutional in terms of safeguarding the minimum subsistence level," said Tack.
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Source: www.stern.de
