German federal, state and local authorities plan to merge the Bürgergeld (Citizen’s Money), the Kinderzuschlag (child supplement) and the Wohngeld (housing allowance) into a single assistance program. This is detailed in a report from the Federal Commission on Social State Reform, scheduled for release this Tuesday and reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
The report contains 26 concrete recommendations that participants now wish to implement rapidly. Its aim is to simplify and digitalize the social system while ensuring that aid reaches people more precisely.
Under the proposal, basic security-currently Bürgergeld-would be combined with housing allowance and child supplement. Bürgergeld guarantees a minimal standard of living for the needy. Housing allowance and child supplement, in contrast, support those with low incomes who do not qualify for basic security, or who would not qualify if they were not parents. By unifying these benefits, the reforms seek to eliminate the need for beneficiaries to submit multiple applications to several different offices, thereby ending the “bureaucratic ping‑pong” that often forces clients to visit several agencies in succession.
A key problem with the existing tangled web of assistance is the lack of coordination between benefits. For example, if a mother on basic security moves from part‑time to full‑time work, she may earn more hours but still end up with little or no money in her account. This happens because higher earnings trigger sharp reductions in housing allowance or basic security under current calculation rules. The commission calls for revising these benefit‑reduction rules.
The commission also proposes a clearer division of labour between agencies: job centres would handle all beneficiaries who are at least capable of working three hours a day, while other, non‑working persons-including those who are physically unable to work-would be seen by municipal social offices. To achieve a “fully uniform administrative structure” the commission says the constitution must be amended. Article 91e now dictates a different split of responsibilities.
In addition to structural changes, the “digital reboot” of the social state envisages comprehensive data sharing among federal, state and municipal social authorities. Job centres, municipal social offices and housing‑allowance offices would exchange data so that citizens no longer need to re‑enter the same information on lengthy forms for each new application. Child benefit will be paid automatically after birth, eliminating the need for a separate application.
Unlike the pension commission, the social‑state reform commission was not dominated by academics. Instead, its proposals were drafted by the government actors themselves-from federal ministries, the states of Bavaria, North Rhine‑Westphalia and Hamburg, and leading municipal organisations such as the Städtetag. The work was led by the Ministry of Labour under Bärbel Bas (SPD).
