The SPD is committed to a fundamental reform of the welfare state in Germany. The Hartz IV system will be made more humane in the form of a citizen's money and the controversial sanctions for breaches of duty will be defused. Unemployed people should also be able to receive unemployment benefit I for a longer period. This was decided unanimously by the SPD Federal Party Congress in Berlin.
"We do not want people to become petitioners," said Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer. It is about enabling everyone to have "equal participation". Demands for an unconditional basic income issued Dreyer as well as Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil a rejection. Heil said that the goal must rather be to "get people out of unemployment".
SPD leader Saskia Esken considers the unanimous adoption of the welfare state concept as a "groundbreaking decision". This is especially true with regard to "the sting we carry around with respect to Hartz IV," she said on the sidelines of the congress.
Legal claim to further education
In a first step, a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court of November will now be implemented, according to which the job center may not reduce the monthly benefits by more than 30 percent. The socioeconomic and socio-cultural mine of subsistence should be preserved according to the SPD resolution. Stricter sanctions for under-25s and cuts in housing allowances should be abolished. Audits of financial circumstances and housing size are to be omitted in the first two years of benefit receipt.
Employees should receive a legal right to further training. With the demand for an unemployment benefit Q, the SPD picks up on an idea from the year 2017: In a continuing education measure, unemployment benefits can be paid for a maximum of 36 months. Today, there is a total entitlement to 24 months unemployment benefit from the age of 58.
Basic child protection and right to home office
In addition, according to the SPD, a right to mobile work and home office will be anchored by law in the future. The minimum wage should be raised to twelve euros in the future.
The SPD party also unanimously adopted the concept of a basic child protection scheme. For each child in Germany, the state will pay the future of the SPD in the future, a new child benefit of at least 250 euros. The SPD wants to bundle the thicket of various family benefits such as child benefit, child supplement, Hartz IV for children and Teilhabeleistungen.
Each child should receive 250 euros per month. Low-income families should be able to raise child benefits to up to € 400 for children up to the age of six, € 458 for ages 6 to 13, and € 478 for teens from the age of 14.
Tenancy law should be further reformed
In a "Social Pact for Affordable Housing", the tenancy law will be further reformed and 1.5 million flats will be newly built each year. In the care of the SPD wants to cover the own share of the needy and their relatives. The long-term care insurance is to be extended to a full insurance, so the limitation of the benefit amount be repealed.
Among other things, the SPD wants to finance this by converting it into a citizens' insurance, which also includes previous private insured persons. The SPD plans the same for health insurance companies. A family care law is intended to give relatives more time and financial scope for care. Furthermore, there should be a long-term stabilization of the pension level.
