According to the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, recipients of Hartz IV and old-age insurance have to tighten their belts at the turn of the year.
Munich - The head of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, Ulrich Schneider, has called for a radical change of course in the calculation of Hartz IV * and old-age insurance. If the existing calculation basis is not changed promptly, there is a risk of a lowering of the basic security at the turn of the year, warned Schneider. Then the 7.2 million beneficiaries in Germany received even less money than before.
Merkur.de
spoke to Schneider about the calculation bases, long lead times and possible adjustments.
Mr. Schneider, in May the inflation rate was 2.5 percent. This is the highest level since 2011. The perceived inflation for everyday products was even higher at 4.1 percent. Economists expect the rate of inflation to continue to rise in the second half of the year. How concerned are you?
We are indeed very concerned about the loss of purchasing power.
The standard rates are demonstrably too low.
A person living alone is currently entitled to just EUR 446 per month to secure the subsistence level.
According to our calculations, the basic security should be 644 euros.
Incidentally, the Diakonie, the Left and the Greens have reached very similar proportions.
In addition, important further offers of help were significantly reduced during the corona pandemic, think of the food banks that at least supplied around two million people before the coronavirus but had to close in the meantime, or closed social department stores.
There people who live on basic security can get everyday necessities or smaller items of furniture.
In addition, the pandemic has made additional expenses necessary.
This applies, for example, to masks or disinfectants, which are not included in the calculation of the basic security.
So if central support offers are no longer available, new burdens from the pandemic are added and the cost of living also rises at the same time, people with basic security will face existential need.
So does the basic security urgently need to be increased?
Yes.
But the worst thing is: According to the current status, there will probably be no increase in the coming year despite this starting position.
Instead, the basic security will probably even be reduced at the turn of the year.
Why do you think that?
The level of basic security is based on a mixed index made up of the cost of living and the development of wages.
But wages fell during the Corona * pandemic.
This is due to the sharp rise in short-time working, but also to the increased number of unemployed.
In effect, this can lead to the basic social security even falling.
We have therefore appealed in a letter to Federal Social Minister Hubertus Heil to ensure that the next time the basic security is set, the inflation rate must not be undercut.
We are waiting until today for an answer to this central question for 7.2 million beneficiaries.
Ulrich Schneider: "Recipients of Hartz IV and basic old-age security are at risk of falling below the subsistence level"
How far could the basic security possibly fall?
The specific data on wage developments and inflation for the relevant calculation period from July 2020 to June 31, 2021 will probably not be available until August.
Then we can specifically calculate the consequences of this development.
What would have to happen to prevent a cut in the basic security?
We have to change the corresponding adjustment ordinance as soon as possible so that the basic security remains above the price increase overall - even if there is actually a mathematical decrease in the basic security due to wage developments.
But isn't the inflation rate taken into account when calculating the basic security using the price index?
Correct.
And that's not a problem either, because wages usually rise faster than prices anyway.
But for the period from July 20 to June 21 we will have negative wage developments for the first time in decades.
If we do not correct this, beneficiaries will have even less in their pockets than usual and, in the worst case, will fall below the subsistence level.
We cannot and must not allow that.
Ulrich Schneider: "Shorter lead times for calculating Hartz IV and old-age insurance"
Inflation has picked up speed, especially in the past few months. However, the currently valid standard rates were already calculated on the basis of the period July 2019 to June 2020 and came into force on January 1, 2021. Don't we need shorter lead times here?
Absolutely.
We have to adjust the standard rates for Hartz IV, for example, much more quickly.
The current mechanism by which Hartz IV rates are adjusted with a delay of more than six months is completely obsolete.
It is already foreseeable that the prices for many everyday products will continue to rise due to the impending increase in the CO2 tax.
Because then the transport costs or the prices for packaging and the prices for food, for example, also rise.
We have to be able to absorb such developments more quickly and for that we need a new mechanism.
What could such a model look like?
We basically have two levers here: On the one hand, the actual calculation period.
This is currently one year and, on the other hand, the period between the calculation and the actual adjustment.
This is another six months.
It would be conceivable that instead of one year we would only use half a year to calculate the adjustment requirement and shorten the period between calculation and adjustment from half a year to three months.
This would allow us to review the basic security twice a year and adjust it accordingly.
That would be feasible and would secure the subsistence level much better.
But that's not realistic. The Bundestag is going into the summer break at the end of July and then is the election campaign and the Bundestag election?
This is a regulation.
You don't need a Bundestag resolution here, but you do need the approval of the states.
So it can happen very quickly - if the political will is there.
* Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.