During current budget negotiations, the ruling parties Union and SPD are clashing over potential reductions to basic welfare allowances starting next year, according to high-level coalition circles reported by “Bild am Sonntag.”
The conflict stems from a new recalculation of the standard rates, based on income and consumer expenditure surveys, which reportedly found that the current monthly rates for adults and children are between five and seven euros too high. However, the draft bill proposed by the Federal Employment Ministry, which was internally presented by former Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), suggests maintaining the current rates for reasons of grandfathering. The Union, conversely, is strongly pushing for reductions.
Currently, a single person receives 563 euros per month, while couples receive 506 euros. Children and young people receive between 357 and 451 euros per month, depending on their age. These basic allowance rates are recalculated every five years using the income and consumer expenditure survey conducted by the Federal Statistical Office, which tracks how low-income households spend their money. Key expenses contributing to the rates include food, drinks, clothing, toiletries, and leisure activities.
Jan Dieren, deputy spokesperson for Employment and Social Affairs for the SPD parliamentary group, stated to “Bild am Sonntag” that reducing the rates would be irresponsible. He pointed out that individuals relying on basic welfare must already budget extremely carefully, insisting that their trust in the system-that the rates won’t decline-must not be broken. Dieren stressed that more than half of the parents receiving basic welfare already regularly go without food so that their children can be fed, adding that even a small cut in the rates would mean more days of hunger for them.
Since the amount of basic security has implications for the 2027 federal budget, the new Minister of Labor, Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), and the CDU-led Chancellery must resolve the dispute by the budget committee’s cleaning-up session on Thursday. Meanwhile, the coalition also needs clarification on the planned abolishment of the sudden top-up benefit for poor children, set at 25 euros per month. This benefit was introduced by the coalition four years ago due to high inflation and is available to parents on basic welfare and working parents receiving the child benefit because of low income.
Regarding school children aged six and older on basic welfare, the Federal Employment Ministry has proposed a compensation in the draft bill: an educational subsidy of 25 euros per month for this group. However, the Union has rejected the introduction of this new benefit. In the budget negotiations, the SPD is now aiming to maintain the instant top-up benefit for all affected children. Dieren emphasized that 25 euros monthly represents a substantial amount for children in poverty and argued that removing it would always be wrong, but especially so in the current climate.
