- No more citizens' allowance for those who refuse to work?
It is unclear whether it is about tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. In any case, the debate revolves around a significant number of citizen's income recipients who could essentially work but do not take a job. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann has received much criticism for his proposal to completely cut the benefit for those who refuse to take up work.
However, the politician seems to have struck a nerve. 56 percent of Germans think it is right to completely withdraw the citizen's income from those who refuse to work, according to a Forsa poll for the stern. 40 percent find this too harsh, and 4 percent have no opinion.
Workers support tough sanctions for citizen's income recipients
Especially East Germans (62 percent), workers (73 percent), and voters who place themselves on the "right" (80 percent) are in favor of a tougher stance against those who refuse to work. But even "middle" voters are 65 percent in favor. Only those who place themselves politically on the "left" reject the plans by 64 percent.
Accordingly, supporters of AfD are 78 percent, FDP 71 percent, and CDU/CSU 68 percent in favor of Linnemann's proposal. Even voters of the alliance "Sahra Wagenknecht" support it by 61 percent. Only supporters of the Greens (75 percent) and the SPD (58 percent) find a complete withdrawal too harsh.
How difficult this issue is for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's party is shown by another evaluation. Forsa has also surveyed the opinion of voters who have turned away from the SPD since the 2021 federal election: They also say by 57 percent that a complete withdrawal for those who refuse to work would be right.
Forsa CEO Manfred Güllner finds these results unsurprising. In earlier investigations, a majority of Germans had already expressed reservations about the citizen's income in its current form. "Only a minority in the green/left camp supports the concept of citizen's income," says Güllner, "due to the widespread skepticism, the SPD cannot benefit from the fact that it had overcome its Hartz-IV trauma with the citizen's income."
The data was collected by the market and opinion research institute Forsa for the stern and RTL Germany by telephone on August 1 and 2, 2024. Sample size: 1001 respondents. This makes the survey representative. Statistical error tolerance: +/- 3 percentage points
The controversy over citizen's income has led to discussions about reducing or withdrawing benefits for individuals who could work but choose not to. Furthermore, a majority of Germans, including East Germans, workers, and voters on the right, support this tougher approach, according to a Forsa poll.
This push for stricter sanctions for citizen's income recipients who refuse to work is supported by various political parties, such as the AfD, FDP, and CDU/CSU, as well as a significant portion of voters who have switched from the SPD since the 2021 federal election.
