Bavaria's Minister of Social Affairs Ulrike Scharf and the Erdinger women entrepreneurs in the trades had a lot to discuss. Among other things, it was about maternity protection, citizens' benefits and poverty in old age.
Langengeisling – The meeting of women entrepreneurs in the craft sector with State Minister Ulrike Scharf should have mainly been about medium-sized businesses. But this had many other topics in its luggage.
Claudia Beil, district and state chairwoman of the women entrepreneurs, welcomed around 20 members to the Blou clubhouse in Langengeislingen and first discussed the current debate on the subject of pregnancy. In the future, pregnant self-employed people should no longer have to give up their business because they do not receive the same benefits as employees.
Scharf reiterated that changes were needed in maternity leave and that we had to take a closer look. When it comes to abortion, however, there has been a compromise between the self-determination of women and the protection of the unborn child for 30 years. Scharf could not understand why abortions should be excluded from the criminal code in the future: “This is about ending a life, where else would it go?” There must be further intensive counseling before an unpunished abortion occurs within the first twelve weeks of pregnancy: “In emergency situations, this is absolutely necessary.”
There are around 100,000 abortions every year in Germany. When asked whether there was an unreported number, Scharf said: “One can assume that.” The government is opening an unnecessary barrel with the proposal to remove Section 218 from the criminal law.
The Bavarian Minister of Labor and Social Affairs also spoke about citizens' money. This is a huge problem for companies, and the costs for the state will skyrocket - especially because refugee Ukrainians are immediately subject to social legislation. Scharf asked: “How many of them are employed by us?” It was just 18 percent. In Denmark, where Ukrainians are considered asylum seekers, the proportion is 70 percent.
The minister also addressed basic child welfare. It is true that it is right to bundle all claims in one contact point in the future: “But the responsible minister has let everything slip away,” she said in view of the new authority planned for this purpose with around 5,000 employees. Scharf suggested a different approach: “The subsistence level for children must be changed.” One of those present that afternoon was bothered by the fact that we only heard about the 5,000 new employees on this topic and nothing about the children.
Scharf emphasized that she had made the compatibility of family and career an issue. A modular system has been created to provide the necessary childcare, which has resulted in around 5,700 new employees for the daycare centers to date. There is also progress in Bavaria on the normal path to becoming an educator. The number of academies has increased from 48 to 73 over the past ten years.
One listener noted that the high rents are a main reason why both parents have to work. And: A lot more houses would have to be built. Beil emphasized that more craftsmen are needed for this: “That's why we're making sure that women are also interested in this.” Many apartments are empty because landlords have hardly any rights, according to another opinion. Beil: “Customer and tenant are always right, and it makes no sense to sue against it.” Scharf said that tenancy law needs to be changed.
There was also discussion about why poverty in old age particularly affects women. Because Bavaria used to be dominated by agriculture, this problem is particularly pronounced here, said the minister: “Women were almost never registered back then.” Today they should take care of retirement provision as early as possible.
Regarding equal pay, i.e. equal pay for women and men, Beil explained: Women would simply appear more modest in salary negotiations. In order to change this, there is a mentoring program from the Women's Union.