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Citizens' money reform: Stricter sanctions should force those who refuse to pay!
Peter Schmiedel from the Bergstrasse job center assesses the planned hardships of the citizens' benefit reform in order to combat refusal to make appointments.
Citizens' money reform: Stricter sanctions should force those who refuse to pay!
In the course of the upcoming reforms in the area of citizens' money, Peter Schmiedel, the deputy head of the job center in the Bergstrasse district, speaks out. In a current interview Focus reports, he praises the planned ones Tightening of basic security measures. “We are finally getting the objectors to the table,” says Schmiedel, while pointing out the challenges that his team of around 15,000 people, 10,000 of whom are of working age, are facing.
The federal government plans to convert citizens' money into a new form of basic security and to tighten sanctions that were previously perceived as too lax. Schmiedel vehemently criticizes the old regulations and emphasizes the dissatisfaction among job center employees. In particular, it is desired that recipients of social benefits must appear in person at the job center in the future. “Too often, clients simply do not show up for appointments, and there was not enough action to take action against this refusal,” he explains the problem.
Effects of the new regulations
The upcoming changes could affect around 5.5 million citizens' benefit recipients, who will have to adapt to stricter requirements. This particularly includes failure to meet appointments at the job center, for which there is now the risk of harsher sanctions, which in extreme cases can lead to the cancellation of all benefits. “A single person can have up to 56.30 euros deducted from their citizen’s allowance,” says Schmiedel. He hopes that the new regulations will lead to more people meeting their obligations.
But not all job center employees agree with the flow of reforms. Some colleagues report the frustration that comes with the placement of long-term unemployed people, as is also outlined in another report on ZDF today. The challenges of returning to the job market are great and require perseverance. Child care and a lack of language skills in particular are identified as significant hurdles.
Recognize client needs better
As the case managers from Wiesbaden and Aachen report, placement is difficult, but not impossible. “Most long-term unemployed people want to work,” explains Markus Bilgram, head of the municipal employment agency in Wiesbaden. Only a few are opposing the advice, and yet the pressure on the job centers remains great, especially due to the worrying increase in child poverty in Germany, which affected one in seven children in 2023.
The latest changes in citizen benefit reform are also questioned, in particular the tendency to rely on tougher measures while the focus should be more on supporting clients. Schmiedel himself admits that in cases of psychological anxiety, even home visits are an option for support. A careful, compassionate approach is crucial here.
It remains to be seen how the implementation of the reforms will affect the everyday life of job centers and their clients. One result that remains to be desired is that the new regulations actually contribute to improving the chances of returning to the labor market and at the same time the needs of those affected are not lost sight of.