Almost two months before the federal election, calls for a reform of the basic allowance within the SPD are growing louder.
Saarland’s Minister-President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) is demanding a “more accurate” basic allowance. “People see that those who engage in black labor and basic allowance fraud rarely get caught. We need to change this” Rehlinger said to the “Tagesspiegel” (Sunday edition) on Saturday.
“Those who work hard and abide by the rules must never have the impression in Germany that they are the foolish one” Rehlinger said. The basic allowance must be better protected against abuse, so that it is there for those who really need it. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was “right” in saying that the basic allowance must become more accurate, Rehlinger said. The employees at the job centers could be supported in various ways “without many law packages” to improve things.
Before that, SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich told the RND that he would like to combat the abuse of the basic allowance more effectively in the event of another government participation by his party.
Reforms to the basic allowance were also advocated by SPD Bundestag member Axel Schäfer and the vice president of the SPD Economic Forum, Matthias Machnig.
“The basic allowance has no eternal guarantee in its current form” Schäfer said to the “Tagesspiegel”: “The SPD is always well-advised to recognize and solve existing weaknesses. That is our task for 2025.”
“It is a contradiction that basic allowance recipients do not respond to invitations from the job centers” Schäfer said. The long-time SPD member from Bochum referred to visits to employment agencies or job centers. These appointments showed that “the often very good employees there have too little opportunity to summon basic allowance recipients.” Schäfer said that clever politics consists of “demanding and promoting” but demanding has had too little effect in recent years.
The vice president of the SPD Economic Forum, Machnig, said to the “Tagesspiegel”: “Work must take priority over social transfers. The social state is not a one-way street.” Those who deliberately refuse to take up work must reckon with sanctions.