The costs of citizens receiving unemployment benefits have reached a record high of 46.7 billion euros last year. As reported by “Bild” (Monday edition) based on new data from the Federal Employment Agency (BA), this represents an increase of 10% compared to the previous year. According to the report, expenditures for regular payments and social contributions increased by approximately 2.5 billion euros to 22.1 billion euros in 2024.
Accommodation costs also rose at the BA due to high rents, with an increase of one billion euros to 17.7 billion euros. The municipalities also contribute to accommodation costs. They had to spend almost 400 million euros more in the past year compared to 2023, according to “Bild”.
The CDU now wants to quickly stop this development. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann said in an interview with “Bild”: “Once again, it shows how urgently this unemployment benefit needs to be abolished.” The new government will “deal with it quickly.” According to Linnemann, more people receiving unemployment benefits should be working in the future. “Those who can work but don’t want to can no longer hope for the solidarity of others. That’s over” Linnemann told “Bild.”
The Employment Agency reported that last year there were about 16,000 cases of reduced payments due to a categorical refusal to accept work. In total, around 5.5 million people received unemployment benefits, with 1.6 million of them being generally available to the labor market.