As of: March 23, 2024, 5:03 a.m
By: Amy Walker, Martina Lippl, Bettina Menzel
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The CDU takes a radical position on the issue of citizens' money.
But the number of so-called “total refusers” should be cause for reflection.
Berlin – Discussions about citizens’ money continue to simmer.
The CDU is calling for a tougher approach against citizens' benefit recipients.
Wants to cut off financial support for so-called “total refusers” – i.e. people who refuse reasonable work.
That is the plan after a victory in the 2025 federal election, as the CDU federal executive board decided in a media-covered meeting on Monday.
Citizens' benefit discussion: These are the “total refusers” figures from the employment agency
However, statistics from the employment agency show that these sanctions only affect a few people.
Furthermore, such a reduction in benefits by 60 percent or more is incompatible with the Basic Law.
The Federal Constitutional Court decided this in 2019.
The employment agency provides statistics on the “total refusers” of citizens’ benefits
After a reform by the traffic light coalition at the beginning of 2023, citizens' benefit replaced the Hartz IV (unemployment benefit II) system.
Between January and November 2023, 5.5 million people were entitled to this benefit, 1.6 million of whom were able to work.
According to data from the employment agency, there were reductions in benefits in 201,465 cases during this period.
The question arises, how many so-called “total refusers” are there?
“We cannot statistically evaluate how often a reduction was determined because someone rejected work,” said the agency’s spokesman to the
Tagesschau
.
Citizens' money discussions: The CDU wants sanctions for so-called “total refusers”.
But there are very few of them (symbolic photo).
© Hanno Bode/imago
However, there is one indication: According to the employment agency, 13,838 people received less citizen's benefit in the first eleven months of last year because they did not want to take up or continue work, training, further education, qualifications or a measure run by the agency.
The agency announced this to the
Tagesschau
upon request .
In comparison to the 1.6 million citizens' benefit recipients who are able to work, only 0.86 percent are “total refusers” of work or training.
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Citizens’ benefit recipients in 2023 |
5.5 million people |
|---|---|
Of these, children under 15 years of age who cannot work |
1.5 million people |
Employable beneficiaries |
4 million people |
- Of that |
|
- Employed |
800,000 people (around 20 percent) |
- Are not available to the labor market (training, studying, raising children, etc.) |
1.6 million people (around 40 percent) |
- Are available to the labor market |
1.6 million people (around 40 percent) |
Source: Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
Employment agency: “Total refusers” are exceptional cases
According to the employment agency, “total refusers” are more of an exception. “In general, it can be stated that more than 80 percent of the reductions have recently been determined due to failure to report,” the employment agency further announced.
Citizens' benefit recipients are subject to reporting requirements upon request by the job center.
If those entitled to benefits do not appear at their provider's office or at a medical or psychological examination appointment, this constitutes a failure to report.
According to data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), which
was available to
IPPEN.MEDIA , “total refusers” make up a maximum of two percent.
Citizens' money debate: Lauterbach (SPD) sharply criticizes the CDU's move
The statistics reveal: Since the introduction of citizens' money, the number of people who rely on basic security has fallen to a record low.
In 2023, around 341,000 people from regular employment fell into basic security.
That is 54,000 fewer than in the previous year, according to a response from the federal government to a request from the Greens in the Bundestag, which was available to the
dpa
news agency .
“In Germany, work always leads to higher incomes than doing nothing.”
ifo Institute for Economic Research
Economist Enzo Weber emphasizes that, statistically speaking, there are no signs that people from the low-wage sector, such as the cleaning industry, are slipping into citizen's allowance.
“An escape from employment looks different,” says the scientist.
Nevertheless, the accusation that work is no longer worthwhile still persists in the public debate.
A study by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research contradicts this accusation: “In Germany, work always leads to higher incomes than doing nothing.”
Lauterbach rails against the CDU's citizens' money plans
The CDU has previously received criticism for its citizen's money proposal, which some interpreted as AfD rhetoric.
Because many people with a migrant background would also receive basic security, “the CDU wants to go back to Hartz 4,” wrote Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) recently on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
This is a clear example of how the Alternative for Germany is driving the CDU ahead of itself, Lauterbach continued.
What does the performance principle have to do with the debate about citizens' money, asks the scientist
Why is citizen's money being discussed again even though the statistics show that the problem of “total refusers” is relatively small?
Steffen Mau, researcher at the Humboldt University in Berlin, establishes a connection between the performance principle and the discussion about citizens' money.
He questions why citizens' money is being discussed again, even though statistics show the problem of “total refusers” as marginal.
Mau sees the answer in a change in social competitive conditions.
In recent decades, German society has strongly internalized the performance principle, Mau explained in an interview with the
State of the Nation
podcast team in February .
“It’s no longer so strong from bottom to top, but rather on one level.”
According to Mau, the greatest concerns about an increase in citizens' money are expressed by people who live in close social proximity.
These are those “who earn a little more, who are in the low-wage sector.” The former vertical class struggle has changed into horizontal competition between different groups.
“This grabs everyone’s attention,” says Mau.
Citizens' money is discussed disproportionately in public, but "not about inheritance and wealth taxes or the top tax rate," emphasizes the scientist.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.