The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband sharply criticizes the Hartz IV standard rates.
Because increases are not expected in the coming year, the association is sounding the alarm.
Berlin - Many Hartz IV recipients can currently breathe a sigh of relief: At the end of 2020, the standard rates were increased slightly, the corona surcharge and child bonus of 150 euros each are to be paid out this week.
But the Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband warns: 2022 threatens a zero round.
The standard rates for Hartz IV are adjusted annually to 30 percent to the development of net wages and to 70 percent to the price development.
The association fears that the corona-related wage slump will make itself felt in the coming year.
The result is significantly lower rate increases than for 2021 - with prices continuing to rise.
Therefore, there is a risk of a noticeable loss of purchasing power for Hartz IV recipients and recipients of basic old-age security.
Hartz IV: Zero round 2022 a "poverty indictment"
“It must not happen that the federal government leaves the poor out in the rain again. If it is already foreseeable that the basic security benefits at the beginning of next year will move even further away from people's actual needs, action must be taken immediately. Anything else would be an indictment of poverty, ”says Ulrich Schneider, General Manager of the Paritätischer Gesamtverband.
Schneider criticizes the standard rates in the basic security as fundamentally too low.
They are not covering the needs.
He therefore called on Federal Social Minister Hubertus Heil to ensure a general compensation for price increases by adjusting the update formula.
The Diakonie recently proposed a fundamental reform for calculating the standard requirement.
The Hartz IV rate would increase with the new model from 446 euros per single adult to 579 euros.
Hartz IV: Increasing the standard rates by at least 200 euros required
In order not to live in poverty, however, single adults must receive at least 644 euros per month. That was calculated by the Joint Research Center. Schneider therefore calls for a rapid increase in the standard rates to at least 600 euros, in addition to an immediate corona surcharge of 100 euros per person per month. He is based on a judgment of the Social Court in Karlsruhe. At the end of March, the one-off payments made that week were declared too low, too late and therefore unconstitutional. The federal government did not meet the requirements when determining the amount of the payment.
