The President of the German Association for Social Law (VdK), Verena Bentele, has sharply criticized a recent call from federal CDU leader Friedrich Merz to cut ten percent of spending on citizen’s allowance (Bürgergeld).
Speaking to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” Bentele labeled Merz’s proposal as “populism” for repeatedly focusing on issues like citizen’s allowance and publicly stating specific figures. She challenged Merz to provide concrete figures regarding potential revenue gains from combating tax evasion, estimating that such efforts could yield 100 billion euros or more annually for the state.
The coalition committee comprising the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had previously agreed to present key principles for a citizen’s allowance reform by the end of the year, aiming to increase pressure on recipients. Bentele argued that the current debate is disproportionately focused on those who completely refuse to work, while overlooking the larger number of individuals like single parents supplementing low wages with citizen’s allowance, or children and young people in need of social support. She also highlighted the circumstances faced by individuals with disabilities who tirelessly apply for jobs but consistently face rejection.
