Most recipients of the German Bürgergeld (citizen’s stipend) are not actively looking for work.
That is according to a new study published today by the Bertelsmann Foundation, an independent research institution.
The Bürgergeld is one of the main pillars of Germany’s burgeoning social welfare system. It is meant to provide a basic income for people who could work but are currently unemployed.
Bürgergeld starts at roughly €500 per month. But the state also covers the costs of renting and heating a suitable abode. A family of five with three underage children can expect €2,000 to €2,500 per month and the costs for a 100 sqm apartment.
Before a rebranding under Germany’s former left-wing government it was known as “basic income support for job seekers”, colloquially called Hartz IV.
The study today, though, finds 57 per cent of recipients have not looked for a job in the past month.
Another 26 per cent said they had spent less than 10 hours per week looking for employment during the same period.
The reasons for this inactivity are manyfold. Three quarters of those who had not looked for employment said health issues were to blame. All in all, almost half of Bürgergeld recipients said they suffered from a physical or mental illness.
Other important reasons cited for inactivity were a lack of suitable jobs (49 per cent) and no chance for financial improvement through work (26 per cent).
Welfare recipients were also unhappy with Germany’s system of Job Centres, which is supposed to help match people looking for work with open positions: Some 43 per cent said they had never received an invitation to apply for any open position through the system.
More than 1,000 welfare recipients between 25 and 50 years of age were questioned for the study.
The authors conclude that Germany should do more to support vulnerable groups of jobseekers, such as sick recipients or those with outdated qualifications. It also says the government should more stiffly sanction those who are capable of working but turn down suitable jobs nonetheless.
On social media many commentators took a harsher view, claiming the Bürgergeld system was too generous and lenient, thus providing little to no incentive for most recipients to look for a job.
The Bürgergeld scheme is costing German taxpayers around €50 billion annually. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly vowed to revamp the welfare. system but has so far met stern resistance from his left-wing coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
