Savings proposals regarding the child maintenance allowance, put forward by leading municipal associations, have met with widespread criticism in the German Bundestag. Jasmina Hostert, the SPD parliamentary group’s spokesperson for family policy, strongly rejects any cuts to the allowance. Speaking to the “Welt” she stated, “The child maintenance allowance is a crucial and effective safeguard when a parent fails to fulfill their responsibility to pay maintenance support. Reversing the last child maintenance allowance reform would severely impact thousands of single parents”. Instead, she argued that efforts should focus on consistently strengthening the enforcement against parents who are demonstrably able to pay but evade their obligations. “Those who can pay child support yet avoid doing so must be held to account more strictly. This serves the child’s best interests and the overall acceptance of the support system”. The specific proposals came from the Association of German Cities, the Association of Districts, and the Federation of German Municipalities, who suggested rolling back the 2017 reform of the child maintenance allowance. This reform involved the state providing interim support for those whose maintenance payments are overdue. Key changes implemented then included raising the maximum age of eligible children from twelve to eighteen and abolishing the previous six-year limit on receiving funds. According to these municipal associations, spending in this area has quadrupled since then.
Heidi Reichinnek, the leader of the Left party group, dismissed the list of cuts as “nothing short of a disgrace”. Telling the “Welt” she said, “Children, young people, and families are facing a brutal wave of cuts. It is unimaginable that measures are based solely on savings potential, disregarding the varied and mostly drastic consequences for those affected”. Reichinnek suggested these proposals amounted to economic “fantasy” warning that the supposed savings would lead to considerable additional costs in the medium and long term across every sector.
Misbah Khan, the deputy leader of the Green party group, told the “Welt” that the proposals fit into a pattern “that we already know from this federal government: that support is cut from the most vulnerable groups of our society instead of being strengthened”. She cautioned that making cuts to the maintenance allowance directly affects hundreds of thousands of children and their single parents.
Martin Reichardt, the SPD parliamentary group’s spokesperson for family policy, also opposed the proposed reductions. “The child maintenance allowance must be maintained in its current form” Reichardt stated. “The planned changes could actually lead to increased pressure on overdue payers, but this must not happen at the expense of the parenting parent or the children”. He advocated that any necessary savings should instead come from the areas of Ukraine aid and managing illegal migration.