In Germany, the Citizens’ Income (Bürgergeld) remains a contentious issue. The coalition government wants to tighten the rules for recipients, but critics argue this isn’t enough. How much have expenditures increased, and what are the government’s plans? Here’s an overview.
Who is eligible for Citizens’ Income in Germany?
To receive Citizens’ Income, one must be able to work, be at least 15 years old and not yet of retirement age, reside in Germany, be able to work at least three hours a day, and be in need. This means that anyone whose income falls below the subsistence level and cannot adequately cover their living expenses is eligible.
Even those who are not able to work can receive Citizens’ Income if they live in a so-called community of need with someone who is capable of working.
Can the State reduce Citizens’ Income arbitrarily?
No. In a fundamental ruling in 2019, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany referred to the Basic Law: The design of basic security is derived from the basic right to a dignified minimum existence. The state is obligated to respect and protect human dignity. Thus, the state is tasked with creating the conditions for a self-determined life.
Social benefits can be conditional on the fact that people cannot secure their own existence and on active cooperation. Sanctions are also permitted. However, according to Karlsruhe, the state must adhere to strict proportionality requirements. A reduction of benefits by up to 30 percent is permissible until a person complies again.
Can the State completely cut off Citizens’ Income?
The Federal Constitutional Court imposes strict limits. The complete withdrawal is “not compatible with constitutional requirements based on current knowledge,” the ruling states. There is no reliable evidence suggesting that completely cutting off existential benefits would promote the goal of cooperation in overcoming one’s own neediness and ultimately gaining employment.
What are the cooperation obligations?
An application for Citizens’ Income must be submitted personally. All information must be accurate, documents and certificates must be provided, and any changes must be reported. If one falls ill, a medical certificate must be presented by the third day.
Beneficiaries must participate in measures for labor market integration and apply for jobs when required. There is an obligation to accept any reasonable job that one is capable of doing.
What are the sanctions?
For breaches of duty, benefits are reduced – in steps of up to 30 percent. Job centers can also completely cut off Citizens’ Income for a maximum of two months if the individuals consistently refuse to take up employment. This rule has been in effect since March and was decided to close financing gaps.
How much will the latest decisions save?
Stricter sanctions for “total refusers” are expected to save 150 million euros. At the same time, 500 million euros less was budgeted for Citizens’ Income than originally planned, as refugees are expected to find jobs faster through the so-called “job turbo.” Last year, Germany spent about 42.6 billion euros on Citizens’ Income, compared to 36.6 billion euros the previous year.
What further tightening has the coalition agreed upon?
As part of their growth initiative launched in July, the SPD, Greens, and FDP agreed on several points: A daily commute to work of 2.5 hours for a working time of up to six hours and three hours for a working time of more than six hours is considered reasonable.
For cases of refusal of reasonable work, a uniform sanction rate and duration of 30 percent for three months is to be introduced, and for failure to meet reporting obligations for one month. If the person complies again, the sanction will end. In the case of undeclared work, benefits can be reduced by 30 percent.
Existing regulations for exempt assets are also to be tightened. Currently, job centers only consider significant assets in the first year of receiving Citizens’ Income. This grace period is to be shortened to six months. Total refusers will have to take up more job opportunities (one-euro jobs). The government plans to pass these changes in the cabinet in the second half of 2024.
Will Citizens’ Income continue to rise?
No. At the beginning of 2024, it increased by a total of 12 percent. Since then, single individuals receive 563 euros per month, 61 euros more.
However, in 2025, recipients may have to brace for a possible zero increase. “We currently expect that, given the now declining inflation rates, there may be no increase as of January 1, 2025,” said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Labor. The reason is the low inflation.
Why did the figures for Citizens’ Income go up?
“The increase over the past two years is mainly due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Dirk Heyden, head of Germany’s largest job center in Hamburg, told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
More than a million people have come to Germany since then. Heyden also attributed the recent high inflation and resulting increased neediness to the war.
Is work worthwhile with Citizens’ Income?
Usually yes, but not always. When Citizens’ Income, child allowance, or housing benefits are combined, living in a larger household or need-based community and extending an existing job often doesn’t pay off.
For example, a report by the Ifo (Munich) and ZEW (Leipzig) institutes commissioned by the government shows the minimal benefit of additional work for a single mother with two children. With a wage of 1,000 euros, she earns a total of 2,823 euros – with 1,500 euros gross, only slightly more at 2,907 euros.
Why is there another debate on Citizens’ Income?
Given the sharply rising costs for Citizens’ Income, politicians from the CDU, FDP, and AfD are pushing to tighten the rules further. “Citizens’ Income has not met expectations and therefore needs further reform,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner in an ARD summer interview.
CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann called for cutting off Citizens’ Income entirely for more than 100,000 people. Linnemann told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers that statistics suggest “a six-figure number of people are fundamentally unwilling to take a job.” He demanded that these people have their basic security completely cut off.
Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch accused Linnemann of using false numbers. The claim that more than 100,000 people are unwilling to work is “simply wrong,” Schuch said. Federal Employment Agency figures show that not even one percent of Citizens’ Income recipients are classified as total refusers, Schuch pointed out: “Compared to the many people who would like to work but can’t due to their multiple problems, this is a very small number.”
What other criticisms are there of Linnemann’s statement?
Left Party federal manager Ates Gürpinar even called it “incitement to hatred.” “FDP, CDU, and even parts of the SPD are engaged in a contest of meanness and slander against those who receive Citizens’ Income,” Gürpinar said.
Citizens’ Income recipients are not work refusers, but include single parents, the sick, or people in retraining programs. “That’s why we demand that Lindner, Linnemann, and others stop this incitement to hatred. A whole group of people is being defamed to distract from their own lack of concepts in fighting poverty. It’s not the poor’s fault, but the circumstances that cause this poverty.”
How many people receive Citizens’ Income in Germany?
According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, a total of 5.6 million people receive Citizens’ Income, of whom about four million are generally capable of working.
The Diakonie reported that of these four million, less than half are actually unemployed; others are in labor market policy measures, attend school, care for relatives, or look after their children.
Additionally, nearly 800,000 working people have to supplement their wages with Citizens’ Income, according to Diakonie President Schuch. “They would benefit from better wages.”
Where does Finance Minister Lindner want to start?
Lindner said regarding the federal budget: “We don’t have too little money; we have too high expenditures.” He spoke of sharply rising social spending. “A major task will therefore be to reorganize our welfare state. In short: more targeted, more empathy for those in need, but more consequences for free riders.”
Lindner has repeatedly expressed the expectation that rates will not rise again in 2025 and reaffirmed this in the ARD summer interview. Next year, there will be a zero increase in Citizens’ Income, he said. “It will not be increased while the working population will be relieved of income tax. This widens the gap again, which is what the population expects.”
Since when has there been Citizens’ Income?
Citizens’ Income was one of the biggest social reforms of the coalition government. It has been in effect since January 2023 and replaced the Hartz IV regulations. The idea was to focus more on “supporting” people rather than “demanding” from them.
It could only come into force thanks to a compromise in the Mediation Committee. The CDU had previously blocked the law, already passed by the coalition majority in the Bundestag, in the Bundesrat.
