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Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
Similar ideas keep making the rounds - especially when elections are imminent.
And so, a few weeks before the federal election, several members of the Union parties launch a push with a view to the long-term unemployed.
The politicians of the CDU, CSU and Free Voters want to oblige them to do charitable work.
He was thinking of such a regulation for people "who receive benefits from the state and are not ready to integrate into the labor market," said CDU European politician Sven Schulze of the "Bild" newspaper.
According to this, the unemployed could sweep leaves or collect rubbish, for example.
The main aim is to »facilitate the reintegration of the long-term unemployed into working life,« said Berlin's CDU parliamentary group leader Burkard Dregger of »Bild«.
The chairman of the Free Voters, Hubert Aiwanger, welcomed the following: Many long-term unemployed could "return to a normal working life if they are specifically trained for the primary job market through charitable work".
The CSU interior expert Michael Kuffer hopes for the unemployed "appreciation and a personal relationship with our community".
Hamburg's CDU boss Christoph Ploß referred according to "Bild" to a draft law from Denmark, where the government wants to force the integration of immigrants with an obligation to work.
Danes speak of a "new work logic"
The measure in Denmark is part of a reform package that Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen presented on Tuesday.
It is about unemployed people with "integration needs" who receive financial support from the state.
"We want to introduce a new work logic in which people have the duty to make a contribution and to make themselves useful," Prime Minister Frederiksen said on Wednesday.
"And if they can't find regular work, they have to work for their grants."
Initially, the regulation is intended for those who have been receiving state benefits for three to four years and do not have a certain level of schooling and knowledge of Danish, the head of government said.
The working hours should be at least 37 hours per week.
Denmark has massively tightened the conditions for immigrants in recent years.
The government has set the goal of reducing the number of asylum seekers to zero.
jok / AFP