As of: March 28, 2024, 4:51 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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The Regulatory Control Council has presented a new report with proposals for reforming the welfare state. However, he first uses a graphic to describe how big the problems actually are.
Berlin – “Ways out of the complexity trap”: This is the title of a new report from the Regulatory Control Council, which is intended to show the federal government options for simplifying the welfare state. However, you first have to summarize what the problems are - and that alone makes your head start to spin. Because of the many small and large reforms of the past few years and decades, an extremely bureaucratic construct has emerged that hardly anyone can understand.
Graphic shows absurd German social system
This is how the consulting firm Deloitte, which was commissioned by the Regulatory Control Council, summarizes it in its introductory sentences: “Over decades, new regulations, instruments and services have been added to social and tax law. The result is an extensive legal structure with an extremely complex benefit system.” It is therefore difficult, even for experts, to understand how exactly the German welfare state works. “What makes matters worse is that the legal framework contains a multitude of different and contradictory legal terms,” say the authors.
In the further course of the report, a graphic is presented that shows the status quo of social benefits under the title “Restructuring case? House of social help and support”. Rather, according to the report, the house is a “house that drives crazy people” – like in the well-known comic about Asterix and Obelix.
Graphic in the report by the Regulatory Control Council shows the extent of the welfare state © Screenshot/Report “Ways out of the complexity trap”
The Regulatory Control Council consists of ten honorary members and is based at the Federal Ministry of Justice. It is tasked with examining legislative proposals with regard to the associated bureaucratic effort.
Reform is also intended to protect democracy: “Perception of the state suffers”
Another problem with the current social benefit system is that much state aid does not reach those who are entitled. Many economists and experts have criticized this in the past. In particular, the lack of coordination between housing benefit and citizens' benefit leads in certain situations to people who want to work more being punished. An analysis by the Ifo Institute came to this conclusion at the beginning of the year.
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“And the perception of the state also suffers. Anyone who is referred from one authority to the next and searches in vain for orientation in the network of services can easily feel like a supplicant and a courier between authorities that are uncoordinated and have little digital work,” the new report warns. Anyone who wants to increase trust in democracy must be interested in social benefit reform. “If average families have to contact four authorities and apply for five benefits after the birth of a child, this also unnecessarily ties up resources on the administration side.”
Essentially, there is no way around completely overhauling the system - and ideally putting it under the auspices of a single authority. Automation would have to be introduced in many places to simplify and digitize many things. “Bundling the lead responsibility for regulating all social security benefits in one federal ministry is the logical consequence,” says the report.
Basic child protection has “potential” – but it also creates additional problems
This is exactly the goal pursued – at least in theory – by the basic child welfare benefits promoted by Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens). The report writes that the draft also has “potential”, which, however, has not yet been “exploited” “because service components have not been consistently bundled, related services such as citizens’ benefit and housing benefit have not been adequately addressed and contacts with authorities have not been reduced but increased.”
The welfare state is currently the subject of controversial debates. (Symbolic image) © Paul Zinken/dpa
The deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group, Andreas Audretsch, still viewed the report as a “tailwind” for basic child welfare. “We have the opportunity to lay the foundation for a real modernization of our welfare state; we rely on bundling services and transparency, on digitizing processes and automatic payouts,” he explained. The labor market and social policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Pascal Kober, also sees the coalition already on its way. “In order not to drown in bureaucracy, we must also say goodbye to the absolute focus on fairness in individual cases at all times.”
The commissioned report states that due to a lack of organizational requirements and technical standards, the local social security system usually has specific structures, processes and IT systems. Given the shortage of skilled workers, it is questionable whether the social benefits administration's ability to act can be ensured in the long term.
With material from dpa