The FEDERAL states governed by Christian Democrats rejected today in the upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, the reform of the assistance system for the long-term unemployed.

“The new law was and remains the wrong signal at the wrong time,” said Bavaria's minister for federal affairs Florian Herrmann (Christian Social Union CSU) in the debate preceding the vote in the Bundesrat, the chamber of parliament in which the federal states are represented.

“It is becoming less and less worthwhile to go to work”

The new law, in the opinion of Bavaria, but also of the other federal states governed by one of the parties of the Christian Democratic Union CDU/CSU, does not contain the part of the current law on assistance for the long-term unemployed that is based on the principle of “support and demand”.

“Punitive measures for those unemployed people who do not show cooperativeness are almost completely excluded by the new law. In doing so, the federal government is sending the message: it is becoming less and less worthwhile to go to work,” Herrmann said.

The reformed law of Olaf Scholz's coalition government provides for a change in the approach toward recipients of benefits for the long-term unemployed. Along with raising the monthly benefit from 449 to 502 euros per month, the law also provides for easing punitive measures for those who do not respond to job offers.

The opposition Union CDU/CSU also criticizes the increase in the amount of the so-called protected assets for new recipients of unemployment assistance.

New law: Assistance also for those with savings of 60,000 euros

According to the new law, recipients of assistance will be allowed to possess savings of around 60,000 euros while at the same time seeking financial assistance from the state, which the Union CDU/CSU also criticizes.

With the new law on the so-called citizens' income, the Social Democratic-Green-liberal government wants to replace the controversial form of assistance for the long-term unemployed introduced by Gerhard Schroeder's government, which allowed sanctions against those who avoid new employment.

After the law was rejected in the Bundesrat, the government requested the involvement of the so-called mediation committee, a body that tries to encourage compromise between the Bundesrat and the Bundestag, which had already adopted the new law with the votes of the ruling coalition.

After the publication of the new law on assistance for the long-term unemployed, numerous calculations appeared in public presenting examples according to which employment in many cases is less financially worthwhile than remaining in the system of unemployment assistance recipients.

In addition to monthly financial assistance, the state also helps the long-term unemployed, among other things, by covering housing and energy costs.

Source: index.hr