In a Sat.1 report, Jörg Pilawa lives on citizens' money for a week. The experience changes his perspective on poverty.
He slept on the sofa, helped with housework, stood in line for food at the food bank and confessed: "I couldn't live like that." The family consists of two parents and four children and lives "a life on citizens' money, with 127 euros a week. " Pilawa admitted that he was ashamed of his preconceived notions about citizens' benefit recipients. He admitted that his "view of poverty in Germany has changed" and that he had reached his limits "physically and emotionally." Despite having to survive on so little money for just a week, Pilawa was touched by what he had experienced and how warmly he was welcomed by the family. He said: "I just realized that I had really fallen off my high horse because I couldn't imagine living like that." He said that he wanted to see for himself, and for the Sat. 1 report, he moved in with a family in a socially disadvantaged area in Berlin.