The state of North Rhine-Westphalia wants a fresh start in the fight against poverty. Around 18 percent of the population are at risk of poverty. The sharp price increases for energy and food pose existential problems for people with low incomes.
Essen (dpa/lnw) – To combat poverty, North Rhine-Westphalia wants to support those who are particularly affected by the current price increases for energy and food with aid in the hundreds of millions. As a first step, 150 million euros should flow from a planned special fund for crisis management to food banks, homeless institutions or debt counseling, said Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) on Wednesday at a conference against poverty in Essen. With a further 60 million euros, the aim is to help daycare centers to cushion the exploding energy costs so that the range of childcare does not have to be cut again after the restrictions caused by the pandemic.
Social Affairs Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) and Family Affairs Minister Josefine Paul (Greens) invited all relevant stakeholders – such as representatives of municipalities, social associations, churches, business and trade unions – to the poverty conference. Laumann emphasized: “We want a new start in the fight against poverty in North Rhine-Westphalia.” Even if many measures have been taken in the past decades, “the problem is still very big”.
According to Laumann, around three million people in North Rhine-Westphalia are affected by poverty. The problem is much bigger in the cities than in the country. Current inflation is having a particularly severe impact on low-income households. “The number of people who have to turn over every euro has increased.” The state government wants to take countermeasures and “get involved to a considerable extent”. Turning off the heating in an emergency should not happen.
Children and young people should be at the center of the fight against poverty, warned Minister for Family Affairs Paul. Poverty represents the greatest future risk for young people. It often goes hand in hand with shame, cramped living conditions, and the lack of money for a balanced diet and leisure activities. The current crisis must not become the crisis of the younger generation.
Wüst said poverty has many faces. It affects many single parents, older people with small pensions, as well as homeless or unemployed people – and in these times also many people from Ukraine who fled from the Russian war of aggression. Poverty is more than “lack of money”. It often means that social participation is not possible and that there is loneliness. The government is keeping a close eye on the people who have been particularly hard hit by the crisis. According to the State Chancellery, the two concrete aids announced are initial measures, and others are in preparation.
According to the city council chairman Thomas Kufen, the federal government’s gas and electricity price brake, housing allowance and heating cost subsidy will help many. “It is important that the people who are entitled to social benefits also take advantage of them and apply for them,” emphasized Kufen, who is also the mayor of Essen. “Go to the advice centers in the cities, from social services, churches or consumer centers. Get the support you need,” appealed the CDU politician. The country must continue to strengthen the social infrastructure in the cities. “Because here, too, high energy prices are arriving.” If financial gaps formed in the institutions, the country should close them.
