Ines Schwerdtner, the head of the Left, called the commission’s recommendations for a social‑state reform an “attack on the social state”. According to the “Rheinische Post”, she added that Bärbel Bas’s plan would reach more people than Hartz IV has ever reached and threatens a massive expansion of social devaluation.
She criticises the proposal to merge benefits such as child allowance and housing benefit into a single system. “Hundreds of thousands of households receive child allowance-almost 600 000 families with more than 1.5 million children-and over a million housing‑benefit households will soon be funneled into job centres or social offices” she warned. “More than two million people would then be pushed into the basic security system”. Schwerdtner said the reform would noticeably worsen conditions for many in the state and that she repeatedly sees people forced to go to the office as a form of humiliation.
In contrast, Green Party leader Felix Banaszak welcomed the commission’s recommendations and pledged to discuss a possible amendment to the Basic Law. “Our welfare state urgently needs an update” he told the “Rheinische Post”. “Many structures are inefficient and drain time and money, which end up stuck in administration instead of reaching those who need it”. He said the commission’s direction is right and that many of the Greens’ long‑standing demands-merging Bürgergeld, child allowance and housing benefit; cutting bureaucratic hurdles; and pushing for a fully digital administration-are reflected in the proposals.
Banaszak emphasized that the suggestions must not be shelved. “I can only hope that the federal government finds the will to drill through these thick boards” he said. “Our welfare state must become simpler, faster and more understandable for people, without compromising social security”. He added that reform and reorganisation will likely require changes to the Basic Law and that the Greens are ready to discuss and contribute constructively to those consultations.