Manuela Schwesig, the Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has strongly reaffirmed her criticism regarding the federal government’s proposed cuts to the parental maintenance allowance (Unterhaltsvorschuss). Speaking to Spiegel, the former Federal Minister of Family Affairs accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Family Minister Karin Prien of failing to understand the reality of single-parent lives and the needs of their children.
Shwesig emphasized that many single parents are already employed but remain dependent on the allowance. She added that children aged 16 or 17 also incur costs and require support, countering the argument presented by Merz and Prien that single parents of older children could work full-time differently than parents of younger children.
The Minister-President stated that she has opposed the coalition’s plans since their inception, noting that she alerted political leaders to the severe impacts on single parents and their children during the Minister-Presidents’ Conference on June 25th. She confirmed that Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has officially documented its disagreement with such restrictions, a position echoed by the state of Bremen. Consequently, Schwesig charged that both the Chancellor and Ms. Prien cannot hide behind alleged joint decisions made between the federal government and all the states.
Reflecting on the formation of the federal government, Schwesig revealed that she negotiated the family policy chapters directly with Prien. “There was never any talk of cuts back then,” she commented. “On the contrary, the intention was to improve the maintenance allowance.” She concluded that the increase in spending on this allowance should not be seen as a reason to implement austerity measures that harm children, but rather as an indicator that the issue has grown in importance.
