Short-time working benefits will probably not be enough for many people in Germany. Governments in other countries appear to be more generous, a study shows.
Dusseldorf (dpa) - According to a recent study, Germany is at the bottom of the European countries with comparable regulations in terms of the amount of the legally paid short-time work benefit.
While in Germany employees only receive 60 percent of the lost net wages or in households with children 67 percent of the lost wages, according to a study by the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) a significantly higher short-time work allowance of 80 to 100 percent is paid in many other European countries.
The researchers at the institute belonging to the union-related Hans Böckler Foundation are therefore pushing for an increase in short-time work benefits in Germany.
Of the 15 European countries that were included in the study, four countries (Ireland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway) pay short-time work benefits that compensate for up to 100 percent of lost wages.
In France, Sweden, Austria, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland, short-time work benefits are 80 percent or more. In Spain, Belgium and France, 70 percent of the loss of wages is compensated. However, according to the study, more generous services usually go hand in hand with a shorter reference period.
In view of these comparative figures, economic researchers are pushing for a noticeable increase in short-time work benefits in Germany to at least 80 percent - with an increase of up to 90 percent for employees in the low-wage sector.
It is foreseeable that short-time work benefits will very often be used by employees from the service sector with low incomes during the Corona crisis. Without the proposed increase, many of them would probably have to apply for additional Hartz IV benefits, the scientists warned.
WSI study
