As of: January 22, 2024, 6:22 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Boris Palmer (non-party) is mayor of the city of Tübingen and was a member of the Green Party until last year.
© Ulm Press Image Agency/imago
Boris Palmer was once again critical of citizens' money.
The ex-Green politician believes that social benefits no longer provide an incentive to work.
This is how society gets into trouble.
Tübingen - Tübingen's mayor Boris Palmer (independent) is known for his controversial statements - or as he himself would say, for "showing a clear edge".
People who can work should also work, the former Green politician commented in a conversation with the
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (RNZ)
published on Wednesday (January 17) .
He considers the citizen's allowance to be too high compared to the minimum wage level.
“You don’t have to be a social envious person, an AfD member or a racist. In the long run, a society cannot withstand such tension in the lower income segment,” said the ex-Green Party politician.
Citizens' money debate: Palmer criticizes the increase in citizens' money compared to the minimum wage level
The increase in citizen's money as a percentage compared to December 2022 is 24 percent, said Palmer.
“Which of you – well, the board of Deutsche Bahn – but who else had 24 percent more in the last few months?” asked the mayor of Tübingen rhetorically to the audience.
The minimum wage, on the other hand, was increased by four percent in the same period.
“I'm not concerned with social envy and I'm not claiming that I could live well on 563 euros, that's of course nonsense.” But it has to be right in proportion.
“The basic message: If you can work, you should work, that’s what most people would still agree with.” But that’s exactly what the current government policy is undermining, believes the ex-Green Party politician.
That is extremely dangerous.
“Because once that has been lost, everyone will just do self-service.” When it comes to citizens’ money, it is not the amount that is important, but “the combination with other transfer payments, which would mean that I and my family would be entitled to 3,800 euros in citizens’ money would have,” said Palmer in an interview with
RNZ
.
The politician recently shared a corresponding invoice on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Extreme example of citizen's money: How Palmer gets his money's worth
The ex-Green Party politician has argued with this calculation example several times in the past.
“Mr Palmer is apparently expecting a rent of well over 2,000 euros for his household,” analyzed Caritas.
However, rents of this amount would only be paid in exceptional cases in accordance with Section 22 SGB II within the framework of a waiting period of one year.
“Such a claim would therefore only exist temporarily.”
In this extreme example chosen by Palmer, a family with four children that has to live on the minimum wage would actually be mathematically worse off than with citizen's benefit.
But in this case the state would provide additional help, such as housing benefit, which would give her more money again.
Accordingly, the comparison is only partially correct.
“Mr. Palmer is counting on this to be an absolute exception to the rule; the numbers are far from reflecting the reality of life for people entitled to citizens’ benefit,” Caritas continued to comment.
But even if there is little left for the working population, Palmer doesn't think this is fair.
“You work all month long, pay obediently into the coffers, kindergarten fees and what you have left over from the whole month of getting up at 5 a.m. is 300 euros,” argues Palmer in the
RNZ
talk.
“This also affects the migration debate and has direct consequences on the labor market,” said the ex-Green Party politician.
There is simply no incentive to work.
Something is going wrong in society.
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Studies and statistics on citizen’s money: “Work always leads to higher income than doing nothing”
The citizen's benefit debate is often emotional.
A common fear is that if the gap between the minimum wage and citizen's benefit is too small, working in low-paying jobs is no longer worthwhile.
In keeping with this, a survey was published in the cleaning industry at the end of last year and was widely discussed.
Accordingly, cleaning companies feared that basic security could increasingly come into competition with wage work and that they would therefore no longer be able to find workers.
But is that true?
It's worth taking a sober look at the numbers here.
The economist Enzo Weber took a look at the statistics.
There has been “no change whatsoever” since the introduction of citizens’ money.
An escape from employment looks different,” says the researcher.
“The claim made by some politicians that those who only receive social benefits receive more net money than low earners is simply wrong,” a study by the economic research institute ifo also found.
“In Germany, work always leads to higher incomes than doing nothing,” say the researchers.
The prerequisite for this, however, is that low-income earners apply for the possibility of topping up their income through additional social benefits, according to the institute.
From a scientific perspective: These are the current problems on the German labor market
Economist Weber certainly sees problems on the labor market, but citizens' money is not one of them.
Rather, the Federal Republic is suffering from the enormous shortage of skilled workers.
The scientist also recognizes that unemployment is becoming more entrenched.
Long-term unemployment is definitely a problem because work experience becomes outdated, which in turn could affect motivation.
The researcher would not start with citizens' money, but with the low-wage industry.
He therefore demands a “committed policy for qualification” from the federal government.
Statistically speaking, unemployment among qualified workers is lower than before Corona, while people without a professional qualification are more likely to be unemployed.