The federal government believes that the tougher sanctions in the new basic security scheme pose little risk to children, even if parents would see their benefits fully cut. In a response to a Greens’ parliamentary question reported by the ”Stern”, the Federal Ministry of Labor explains that a variety of safeguards are in place, and the ministry does not expect the new rules to have “potentially substantial impacts on children”.
The opposition, however, has struck sharply at the government’s assessment. The ministry’s reply acknowledges that the draft law takes possible effects on children into account, stressing that “children and adolescents are comprehensively protected when a parent’s benefits are reduced or when the new non‑reachability provision-triggered by three consecutive missed reporting obligations-is applied”.
Greens MP Timon Dzienus is not persuaded. He told the “Stern” that sanctioning parents inevitably harms children. “If parents are penalised, it is the children who ultimately suffer” he said. He pointed out that there are 1.8 million children included in basic security, and that one in three people who rely on food banks are minors. “No child should grow up in poverty, and no child deserves to be sanctioned by their own government. This is a social‑policy scandal”.
In its reply, Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) highlighted the specific protective mechanisms. When a working‑eligible person who is liable for the benefits commits a breach of duty or fails to report, only that person’s standard benefit is reduced. Should the entire entitlement be cancelled because a working person is unreachable, the costs of accommodation are redistributed among the remaining household members and paid directly to the landlord.
