German politicians often say, “Work must be worth it.” But more and more full -time employees need state aid, and the new minimum wage increase is considered disappointing.
Emilya girl in her mother's arms while she gets aid from a food bank
Chancellor Friedrich Merz climbed this week at the Bundestag Tribune to present – in his direct style – the position of the Government regarding one of the following great priorities: his plan to reform the unemployment aid, known in Germany as Bülergeld (“Citizens' income”).
He resumed a known topic: work must be worth it. Merz said he wants to “make sure that people in Germany can see again that their efforts bear fruit and that the principle of remuneration according to performance is applied again.”
But this statement was questioned by a statistics that appeared a few days before: in 2024, about 826,000 people in the field of work depended on Bülergeld, that is, on additional social aid.
This represents an increase of approximately 30,000 compared to 2023 – the first time in 2015 when the number of workers receiving income complements has increased.
Coincidence or not, 2015 is the year in which Germany first introduced a minimum basic salary. At that time, over one million employees were still dependent on state aid, but their number has decreased constantly in the coming years. In 2024, these aids cost the state almost 7 billion euros – with over one billion more than the 5.7 billion paid in 2022.
The government made these figures public in response to a parliamentary question addressed by CEM Int, deputy from the left party. He told DW: “It is unacceptable for hundreds of thousands of people to depend on state aid, although they work. This means that we support low salaries and perpetuate the workforce.”
Increasing the minimum wage
Introduity they believe that these figures clearly show that the minimum wage in Germany is simply too low. Although it was significantly increased by the previous government – at 12 euros per hour in early 2023 – since then it has grown very little, currently reaching 12.82 euros per hour.
On Friday, the commission for the minimum wage in Germany – made up of representatives of the employers and unions – announced an increase in two stages: at 13.90 euros from January 1, 2026 and at 14.60 euros one year later. This growth remains under the target of 15 euros supported by the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Helena Steinhaus, the founder of the St. Sanktionsfrei organization (“without sanctions”), who support the people living from social aid, states that these small increases have not kept up with the increasing prices for rents and the cost of life. For example, average rent in Germany increased by 4.7% only last year, and in Berlin by up to 8.5%.
“I would say that here we have the answer to the question why more and more people have to complete their income-because the minimum wage, even if you work full time, does not cover the basic needs,” explained Steinhaus.
The problem of part-time work
However, some economists claim that the minimum wage has little to do with the number of employed people who need state aid.
“We need to understand that most of these people do not work full time. Most are in professional training or work part-time,” said Holger Schäfer, main economist specialized in the labor market at the German Institute in Cologne (IW).
“The minimum wage does not help in these cases, because the problem is not the low level of salary per hour, but the reduced number of hours worked.”
The data confirms this statement: according to the latest information of the Federal Agency for Employment, of the 826,000 workers who receive aid, only about 81,000 are working full time.
But for the CEM deputy this, this does not justify the low salaries. “The reality is as follows: the current minimum wage is a salary of poverty! Employers cannot avoid this reality,” he said.
“The number of people receiving additional aid depends largely on low salaries. One of my recent interpellations has shown that people working with the minimum wage, full -time, cannot afford a decent home in half of Germany and depend on financial support.”
Growing poverty
In any case, as Helena Steinhaus argued, the reason why many people only work is simple: they have children or other maintenance people who require care, and many cities in Germany do not have adequate infrastructure for children's care services. The German Institute for Economy (IW) calculated last year that 306,000 children under three years of Germany do not have a place at a nursery or kindergarten, although they have legal right.
A 2021 study conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) found that the more children have, the more likely they will need social aid.
The deputy on the left CEM Into claimed that if the state had more invest in nurseries and kindergartens, “it would allow many people to get out of the part-time work.”
Support for employers?
However, Holger Schäfer claims that the increase in minimum wage is not the solution and could be even counterproductive. “The situation could worsen if the companies restrict their job demand due to higher costs,” he told DW.
Helena Steinhaus does not agree: “The employers' associations repeat this 10 -year argument, but all this time it has never been proved to be true,” she said.
“Of course, there are some companies that have difficulty when the minimum wage increases, but many other companies take advantage of the fact that they can hire people for little money.”
Merz and social aid reform
Schäfer believes that the recent increase in the number of people who need income completions is relatively small and that the general tendency to decrease in 2015 is maintained. Last year's growth, he says, probably has more to do with the general economic situation on the labor market than with other causes.
Meanwhile, Merz seems determined to continue his plans to reform the unemployment aid system, in order to bring more people to the labor market – even if some of these workers will need support from the state.
“Unfortunately, Merz's arguments about work are completely reversed,” said Helena Steinhaus. “When he says that” work must be worth it “, he understands that unemployment aid should be reduced. But the minimum level needed to live is not related to the poorest workers. They should earn more, no doubt. But the simple reduction of benefits is counterproductive and puts the poorest against each other.”
Article published by DW
