Social affairs - Older ethnic German immigrants and Jews could receive money
Presumably around 4,500 ethnic German repatriates and 4,900 Jewish "contingent refugees" from the former Soviet Union could receive money from a hardship fund for pensioners in Hesse. This estimate by a federal-state working group was made by the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs Kai Klose (Greens) in response to a question from the SPD parliamentary group in the Wiesbaden state parliament. In addition, there are needy East Germans with outstanding pension entitlements from the GDR era.
The traffic light coalition in Berlin had set up the hardship fund at the beginning of 2023 and budgeted 500 million euros. One-off payments of at least 2,500 euros are possible. When a joint pension system was set up after German reunification, some pension entitlements from the GDR era were not taken into account. These include certain supplementary pensions, for example for former employees of the Reichsbahn or the post office, as well as entitlements for women who divorced during the GDR era. According to the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, the application deadline for these one-off payments is to be extended until January 31, 2024.
State Social Affairs Minister Klose rejected direct participation by the state of Hesse in the hardship fund: "The federal government has exclusive responsibility for statutory pension insurance law." According to Klose, participation by the federal states in voluntary federal benefits in an area for which Berlin alone is responsible would risk "becoming a precedent for further future demands from the federal government". Ultimately, with certain payments, the federal states are already indirectly contributing to access to the labor market and old-age security for ethnic German repatriates and Jews from the former Soviet Union. According to the Minister of Social Affairs, 800,000 euros are available annually for late repatriates in Hesse's budget.
Klose also considers the federal government's fund solution to be "unsustainable". Margarete Ziegler-Raschdorf, the state representative for displaced persons and ethnic German repatriates, had considered at least 9,000 to 10,000 euros to be necessary as a one-off payment "to satisfy the claims of those affected". The federal government's planned payment of 2,500 euros to these pensioners is too low - as is a sum increased to 5,000 euros in federal states that are members of a hardship fund foundation. However, according to Klose, the Hessian state government fundamentally supports the goal of "creating compensation for immigrant Jews from the former Soviet Union and ethnic German repatriates".
Hardship fund
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- The SPD in the Wiesbaden state parliament inquired about the potential beneficiaries of the hardship fund for pensioners in Hesse, which had been established by the traffic light coalition in Berlin.
- Kai Klose, the Social Affairs Minister of Hesse and a member of the Greens, estimated that around 4,500 ethnic German repatriates and 4,900 Jewish contingent refugees from the former Soviet Union could receive funds from this hardship fund.
- In addition, there are needy East Germans with outstanding pension entitlements from the GDR era who could potentially benefit from this fund.
- The hardship fund, with a budget of 500 million euros, includes one-off payments of at least 2,500 euros for pensioners affected by the GDR era.
- However, Kai Klose rejected direct participation by the state of Hesse in this hardship fund, stating that the federal government is responsible for statutory pension insurance law.
- Despite this, Hesse provides annual funding of 800,000 euros for late repatriates, contributing indirectly to the elderly's access to the labor market and old-age security.
- Margarete Ziegler-Raschdorf, the state representative for displaced persons and ethnic German repatriates, argued that a one-off payment of at least 9,000 to 10,000 euros was necessary for ethnic German repatriates and Jews from the former Soviet Union to cover their claims, which were deemed too low by the federal government's planned payment of 2,500 euros.
Source: www.stern.de
