The German trade union federation (DGB) has strongly criticized the plans of Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU), which seek to raise contributions for childless individuals as part of the long-term care reform.
According to DGB board member Anja Piel, speaking to “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”, repeatedly mandating higher payments based solely on the fact that individuals do not have children-for any reason-will not solve the structural problems facing the long-term care insurance system in the foreseeable future. She lamented that childless people are being discriminated against unnecessarily.
Piel demanded that the care system must become affordable and cannot continue to lead to old-age poverty. She stressed that care recipients must finally be relieved from rising co-payments. Furthermore, the trade unionist noted that benefit cuts implemented by the government do not actually fulfill the promises of the reform.
