The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has rejected the motion put forward by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU to reduce the Citizen’s Benefit (Bürgergeld).
Bernd Rützel, the SPD chairman of the Social Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, told the “Rheinische Post” that while it is easy to claim that the economy will boom or that significant savings can be achieved by taking a few euros away from people, “the reality is different.”
Rützel further stated that during an election campaign, the minister must understand that achieving billion-euro savings is not feasible. In his view, the greater savings would come from bringing people into employment.
Furthermore, he warned that any changes to the Citizen’s Benefit would impact groups beyond the immediate recipients. Cuts could subsequently affect many other people who are not directly related to the benefit, potentially including those receiving housing benefits or supplements.
On the matter of benefit adjustments, Rützel noted that there is an established mechanism-a basket of goods-for setting adjustments, meaning that zero increases are also possible.
