The social association VdK is warning that the care reform introduced by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) will place significant burdens on family caregivers and the children of those in need of care. VdK President Verena Bentele told T-Online that the planned reduction in state pension contributions will severely weaken the situation of family caregivers.
While family members shoulder the majority of care work in Germany-often unpaid and without guarantees for future pension recognition-Bentele called the reform a “slap in the face” to these individuals. She added that these caregivers not only sacrificed their time but also saved the insurance system money through home care. Furthermore, she stressed that this adjustment will primarily affect women and will contribute to worsening female old-age poverty.
Bentele also criticized the plan to engage adult children more heavily in covering costs. According to her, Warken’s reform eliminates the common €100,000 threshold. Although exceptions will exist, the general consequence will be increased financial strain on relatives. She argued that this runs counter to the principles of the insurance system and “should not become an open door for claim exclusions”. Instead, she suggested that redistribution should be achieved through “a fairer taxation of very high incomes, large assets, and inheritances” rather than through the nursing care insurance.
The draft of Warken’s so-called Nursing Care Reorganization Act notes that the federal government aims to relieve local municipalities of rising social assistance costs by reversing the limitation on how relatives’ income is credited. This measure was introduced with the 2020 Family Caregiver Relief Act, but it is slated to go through a separate legislative process because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Labour.
