Germany’s Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) announced the new rule sets during a press conference in Berlin. When the citizen’s income was introduced, the standard rate for adults was significantly increased by 53 euros.

Heil spoke of a significant step. Overall, this is an increase of a good twelve percent. “Especially in times of crisis and in times of crisis and upheaval, you have to be able to rely on the welfare state.” According to Heil, the increase will have an impact on the federal budget of 4.3 billion euros.

5.5 million people in need are currently receiving citizenship benefits, including 1.68 million unemployed. In January, citizen income as the central social reform of the traffic light government replaced Hartz IV in its earlier form. The standard rates had already risen by around 50 euros at the beginning of the year. As a result of the reform, the level of benefits will be adjusted to price developments more quickly than before. Previously, inflation had only been taken into account with a very long time lag. Now the level of wages and inflation is taken into account for the standard rates for the following year up to the second quarter of the current year.

Social association speaks of “good signal”
The German Social Association (SoVD) called the standard rate adjustment “a good signal”. Association chairwoman Michaela Engelmeier pointed out that the increase would also help hundreds of thousands of other people. Because the rates for basic security in old age and for reduced earning capacity also increase accordingly.

The Paritatische Gesamtverband had repeatedly criticized the citizens’ allowance as insufficient. According to the association’s poverty report, the rate of citizen income, basic old-age security and reduced earning capacity will not cover the minimum requirement in 2023 either. For this he would have to be 725 euros, as the association says, citing its own calculations.

In the previous Hartz IV system, the basic security had only increased by meager amounts over many years. In 2022, for example, there was an increase of three to 449 euros for single adults – the German children’s charity, for example, criticized this as “miserable” at the time. In 2021 the plus was 14 euros and in the years before that it was eight euros twice.