"Would harm children in particular" - Left and Child Protection Association demand agreement

The child protection association and the left have appealed to the traffic light government and the Union to settle their dispute over the new citizens' income. Child Protection Association President Heinz Hilgers told the editorial network Germany (RND) that the "games" had to be ended. "A lack of agreement would primarily harm families and children," he said. The parliamentary group leader of the left in the Bundestag, Amira Mohamed Ali, told the "Rheinische Post": "This gossip theater must finally stop." It is an indictment that traffic light parties and the Union "not even with these minimal improvements for those affected by Hartz IV". could agree.

Citizens' income is intended to replace the current Hartz IV system. It failed in the Bundesrat due to resistance from state governments led or involved by the Union. From the point of view of the CDU and CSU, those affected are granted too much protection. In addition, they would have to fear too few sanctions for breaches of duty. The mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat should find a compromise next Wednesday. According to the will of the Federal Government, the Federal Council should pass the law on Friday so that the new citizens' income can come as planned at the beginning of the year.

The Union recently made its position clear again. CDU deputy leader Carsten Linnemann called for a fundamental change in the social reform plans of the red-green-yellow federal government. “Citizen’s income is about a directional decision. If the direction of the traffic light coalition does not change, a compromise will not succeed," he told RND. The principle of promoting and demanding must also be retained in the case of citizen income. "Otherwise, in my opinion, there will be no agreement."

Child Protection Association President Hilgers called for a general ban on sanctions for families with children. “Most of the time, the sanctions don’t affect those who sit at the train station with a beer bottle in the morning. Children suffer the most from the sanctions,” he told RND. "It should generally be forbidden for families with children to receive financial sanctions." He also warned that the traffic light coalition's plans for basic child security should be implemented quickly. Without these, two to three children remain a risk of poverty for a family in which the father is a taxi driver and the mother is a hairdresser, said Hilgers. These families would have to top up or struggle with bureaucratic applications for housing benefit and child benefit.

Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) recently said that she wanted to present key points for basic child security in January – the draft law should then be in place by the end of 2023. The traffic light government wants to bundle various family benefits such as child benefit in the new basic child security. There should be an income-independent guaranteed amount for all children and young people.