• In the video above: Citizens’ benefit recipients about reform: “Lets people starve”

That was in 2023 Citizen’s money introduced, it will be abolished again in 2026. The Union parties CDU and CSU have fulfilled one of their central election promises with today’s Bundestag vote. In the future, the social benefit will be “Basic security for job seekersIt already had this name from 2005 to 2023 – at that time it was better known under the common name “Hartz IV”.

However, a lot of things change in terms of content. The main points of the new law are:

• Tough sanctions will be introduced. Instead of an escalating staircase of sanctions, harsh cuts will be made from the first failure. This only goes so far that the job center stops paying the standard rate completely.
• The Waiting period for one’s own assets is largely abolished and the allowances for the protective assets are recalculated. In the first year, rental assistance is now capped.
• At self-employed In the future, after a year of unemployment, the job center will check whether they have to give up their self-employment and switch to a regular job.
• mothers and fathers In the future, after their child’s first birthday, they will have to take on a new job, which will be arranged by the job center. Previously the limit was three years.
• If the job center and the unemployed disagree about how best to end unemployment, the job center can now Coercive measures arrange. There used to be an arbitration procedure here.
• In addition, it should be stronger against Illegal work be carried out by recipients. The new law stipulates that employers are liable if they do not report jobs to the job center.
• Job centers are given more freedom. In the future, they will be allowed to use ten percent of their budget freely instead of using it to finance national programs.

This is what the changes look like in detail:

New sanctions

Previously, there were staggered and limited penalties for unemployed people who violated their obligations to cooperate. This law will radically change that. At the same time, it is also the biggest controversy surrounding the new basic security. The job center has so far reduced the standard requirement for the first breach of duty by 10 percent for one month. After further violations, the penalty increased to a maximum of 30 percent for three months. The following rules apply with the new law:

• If someone fails to show up for an appointment at the job center without an excuse, the standard rate will be reduced by 30 percent for three months. Previously, 10 percent was valid for one month. At the current standard rate for a single adult of 563 euros, that would be 169 euros less.
• Anyone who fails to show up for an appointment three times will automatically be considered “unavailable” in the future. In this case, the entire rule set will be deleted. Only the costs for accommodation and heating will continue to be covered. This applies until the person concerned contacts the job center again.
• The job center is also removing the standard rate completely for people who refuse reasonable work.
• There is an exception for people who are mentally ill. If this has not yet been diagnosed but is only suspected, the job center must send someone for a medical examination before reducing benefits.

Stricter waiting period

Previously, there was a waiting period for people who were newly eligible for citizen’s benefit. For the first year, they didn’t have to move to a cheaper apartment and didn’t have to touch their assets.

That changes with the new basic security. First, the government wants to introduce a rent cap. In the future, the job center will also check whether a rent violates the rent cap. If this is the case, the recipient must ask his landlord to reduce the rent.

If you have children, the rent is covered in full

In addition, each job center sets an upper limit up to which rental costs will be covered. However, it is complicated to calculate. There is already an appropriate size for an apartment today. It depends on the number of people. For single recipients of citizen’s benefit, for example, the limit is 50 square meters. In addition, an appropriate price per square meter is defined. It is intended to reflect the slightly below-average segment within a region. From this you can determine a reasonable rent.

During the waiting period, the job center now pays all rents that are a maximum of 50 percent above this reasonable rent. The recipient must cover the difference himself. The job center will continue to pay them for the first six months if the recipient can prove that an immediate move or other cost reduction is not possible. The rent will continue to be covered in full for all communities with children – regardless of the amount.

Less protective assets

So far, new recipients of citizen’s benefit have hardly had to touch their assets in the first year. There was a limit of 40,000 euros for the first person in a household and 15,000 euros for each additional person. This is now being radically reduced. The new savings assets depend on age:

• up to 30 years: 5000 euros
• up to 40 years: 10,000 euros
• up to 50 years: 12,500 euros
• over 50 years: 20,000 euros

They are calculated per person in a community of needs. For two adults between 30 and 40 years old and two children, it would be 30,000 euros instead of the previous 75,000 euros.

Tougher rules for parents and the self-employed

In the future, mothers and fathers will have to accept reasonable work from their child’s first birthday. Previously the limit was three years. As before, however, it is subject to the proviso that childcare is secured. There must be a place for the toddler in a daycare center or with a childminder.

In the future, self-employed people will only be supported by the job center for one year. The office then checks whether self-employment still has a chance of success. If it comes to the conclusion that a normal job is more promising, the self-employed person must follow this. In practice, this shouldn’t have much impact. Job centers have already been able to demand that a self-employed person stop their poorly performing business. There was just no set time limit for it. As a rule, job centers have only waited one to two years.

Tougher action against undeclared work

The federal government wants to do more to prevent benefit recipients from working illegally on the side. To this end, the powers of the job centers and customs authorities will be slightly expanded. But more important is a new sanction for employers. If authorities have previously included a citizen’s benefit recipient Illegal work If they were caught, they had to pay back the social benefits they had wrongly paid. Employers were only liable for social security contributions. That is now being changed.

In the future, employers and employees will be jointly and severally liable. This means that the job center can decide from whom it collects the benefits. Employers are now liable for undeclared work if they have not reported the work. In practice, this will mean that job centers will primarily collect the wrongly paid benefits from companies. After all, they are usually in a better position to pay them than a basic security recipient who hardly has any money anyway.