- The district council demands that the state eliminate the citizens' allowance for black labor.
The Federal Government must, in the view of the District Council, significantly increase the pressure on recipients of unemployment benefit to take up regular work. For illegal work, the unemployment benefit should be completely withdrawn, instead of just being reduced as currently planned by the Federal Government, demanded the President of the Baden-Württemberg District Council, Joachim Walter. He explicitly includes Ukrainian refugees receiving unemployment benefit in this.
"If you are taken in by a country from a war situation, then you should pull yourself together and contribute to your livelihood as much as you can and work," the Tübingen district administrator told the German Press Agency. "You should also be fair and give something back to the host country. We can also demand that." However, the employment quotas for people from the Ukraine are dismal. "In the district of Tübingen, we are talking about around 10 percent, in the Netherlands it is more than 50 percent."
At the beginning of the week, CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann had already drawn criticism with his proposal to withdraw unemployment benefit from so-called total refusers. Greens, Left and social associations accused him, among other things, of populism and incitement of the people. The FDP in the Bundestag, on the other hand, insists on far-reaching tightening of the unemployment benefit. It also became known that the Federal Government is considering a zero round for unemployment benefit in the coming year.
Federal government wants stricter rules for unemployment benefit recipients
Unemployment benefit is the basic security for job seekers. This is separate from the basic security in old age and in case of reduced earning capacity, for example due to illness or disability. To receive unemployment benefit, working-age and entitled citizens must be at least 15 years old and not yet of retirement age, live in Germany, be able to work at least three hours a day, and be in need of help. It is therefore intended for people who end up below the subsistence minimum with their own income and cannot adequately cover their living expenses.
The Federal Government wants to move more unemployment benefit recipients to take up work with stricter rules. In the future, a longer commute to work will be considered reasonable, refusing a reasonable job will be punished with increased benefit cuts, and even illegal work will lead to cuts. These and other measures are part of the so-called Growth Initiative of the traffic light government, which is primarily intended to boost the sluggish economy.
However, the Federal Constitutional Court sets narrow limits for a complete withdrawal of unemployment benefit. The abolition would be "incompatible with the constitutional requirements on the basis of the current knowledge," it said in a ruling from 2019. "There are no convincing evidence that a complete abolition of existence-securing benefits would be suitable to promote the goal of participating in the overcoming of one's own need for help and ultimately the taking up of employment."
Walter wants to reduce language barriers.
From Walter's perspective, when it comes to employable migrants, we should make concessions on language requirements. "We don't want to train Germanists, we're looking for people for the job market. It doesn't always need the perfect language level," he said. Language can also be learned on the job. "We're not doing them any favors if they stay unemployed. Why not tell the aerospace engineer from Ukraine, for example, that it also helps if he assists the chef in the kitchen and takes language courses on the side?" said Walter.
According to the LKT president, people should enter job placement after a basic language course. "And if the job offer is not accepted, because one says, for example, that it doesn't match their previous training, their level, then benefits should be reduced."
Similarly, the traffic light coalition plans to do this, but Walter thinks they don't go far enough with black work. "In the future, benefits should only be reduced by a maximum of 30% for three months. What nonsense," he said. Those who work black show that they can work. Benefits should be completely cut in these cases and the case should be reported. "We can't keep someone who constantly proves their ability to work with tax money in unemployment benefits and only slightly reduce their benefits for three months," said the district administrator. "Those who fraudulently claim state benefits should also feel the consequences."
Hundreds of thousands in the southwest receive unemployment benefits
In March, there were 501,031 recipients of unemployment benefits in the southwest. Of these, about 71% are employable, according to the Ministry of Labor. Not all employable benefit recipients are immediately available for the job market, for example, because they are completing a job center measure or attending an integration course. These people are also not considered unemployed, but job seekers.
The CDU, as represented by General Secretary Carsten Linnemann, has proposed withdrawing unemployment benefit from individuals classified as "total refusers." This proposal has been met with criticism from the Greens, Left, and social associations, who accuse Linnemann of populism and incitement.
In response to the low employment quotas for people from Ukraine, the Tübingen district administrator suggests that Ukrainian refugees receiving unemployment benefit should contribute more to their livelihood and give back to the host country. The CDU, in its proposed stricter rules for unemployment benefit recipients, also considers illegal work as a reason for benefit cuts.
