There is bickering about the introduction of citizen money. While the federal government wants to develop basic security for job seekers into a modern form of support, representatives of the Union in particular fear something like “late Roman decadence”.

With a carrot in front of you and the abyss in your back: welcome to the lifestyle of the German middle class. In this country you can achieve some prosperity with diligence and good education, but for most people it is not enough to achieve real wealth, despite all the efforts. On the contrary, those who have bad luck or taken the wrong turn in life are threatened with Hartz IV.

But that should now be over, because on January 1, 2023, the basic security benefits, i.e. the previous unemployment benefit II (Hartz IV), are to be replaced by the citizen’s benefit. This is also a form of social, state aid that is subject to conditions and should not be confused with the unconditional basic income. The coalition agreement expressly does not provide for any introduction of this. In addition, citizen income is not yet a law. Until then, there will still be a debate about it in the Bundestag. For example, CDU boss Merz complains that the work is no longer worthwhile because of the higher standard rates. The current Hartz IV regulations still apply.

Questions and answers to the most important questions:

Citizens’ income is a basic security benefit for job seekers, it ensures that they can secure their living needs (minimum subsistence level). Anyone who was previously entitled to unemployment benefit II or social benefit will in future be entitled to citizen benefit. No new applications need to be submitted for this. Citizens’ income is also an option for people whose income from work is not enough to cover their living expenses. Citizens’ income is normally granted for a period of 6 months to a year. After that, a follow-up application must be made, as “buerger-geld.org” reports.

Citizens’ income should enable people to participate in society and respect the dignity of the individual, according to the Federal Ministry of Labour. Which is probably the biggest difference to the previous Hartz IV benefits.

It should also serve sustainable integration into the labor market and be easily accessible digitally upon request. According to the Federal Ministry of Labor, a greater “togetherness” should be created. In the future, the job centers should be more generous with the living situation of benefit recipients. This should make it easier for them to find a job again as quickly as possible, or give them the opportunity to focus more on qualification, further training and job search. People who find it particularly difficult to find or take up work can be supported by professional coaching.

The standard rate of citizen money should be 502 euros for single people. This corresponds to an increase of the previous standard rate for Hartz IV of 449 euros by 53 euros per month. In addition, those who earn between 520 and 1000 euros should be able to keep more of their income in the future. The allowances in this area are to be raised from 20 to 30 percent.

Yes, anyone who will be dependent on citizen income in the future should be allowed to keep their savings for the first two years. Assets only have to be touched from 60,000 euros or an additional 30,000 euros for everyone else in a community of needs. In a family of four, for example, 150,000 euros in savings would be protected. The assets should be able to be checked after 24 months of receiving citizenship benefit. The long-term savings are increased to 15,000 euros. In addition, it is no longer checked whether one’s own car is appropriate. Even owner-occupied residential property is initially excluded from the asset consideration, regardless of its area. For residential property, there are currently limits of around 80 – 90 m² for 1-2 people, 100 – 110 m² for up to 3 people, 120 – 130 m² for 4 people and 20 m² for each additional person.

Assets include everything that is owned and can be measured in money, for example:

For the previous benefits for basic security, a basic allowance of 150 euros per year of age applies. This is not earmarked and is available to every adult Hartz IV recipient and their partner in the community of needs. However, this asset allowance is limited in amount, with the limit staggered according to the year of birth of the ALG II recipient, as reported by the portal hartziv.org. People who were born before January 1st, 1948 receive an increased allowance of 520 euros per year of age.

So that those entitled to benefits can focus as much as possible on looking for work and at the same time know that their livelihood is secured, there are waiting periods for rented apartments in the first two years of drawing benefits. This regulation has been in effect since the beginning of the pandemic. With the basic income, the actual costs for accommodation and heating are to be covered in the first two years of receipt and their size is not to be taken into account, which should also apply to owner-occupied property.

A rental apartment for a Hartz IV recipient may be up to 50 m², for 2 people up to 60 m², for 3 people up to 75 m² and for 4 people up to 85 m².

If recipients of basic social security fail to comply with their obligations to cooperate, such failures can still be punished with benefit cuts. The principle of promoting and challenging should still apply. With the citizen’s allowance, the reductions in performance are re-regulated or mitigated according to the specifications of the Federal Constitutional Court. Initially, a six-month period of trust should apply, during which there will be no legal consequences for breaches of duty. Only if, after the six-month period of trust, the agreements on duties to cooperate (own efforts, participation in measures and applications for placement proposals) are not complied with, these duties are legally binding through requests with instructions on legal consequences.

According to the Federal Ministry of Labour, after the end of the period of trust, the following regulations should take effect in accordance with the new regulation on performance reductions demanded by the Federal Constitutional Court:

(This article was first published on Monday, November 07, 2022.)