The economist Friedrich Schneider believes that the pension commission’s proposal to largely abolish so-called mini-jobs is wrong.
“I am against abolishing mini-jobs because this will cause undeclared work to skyrocket again. According to my initial estimates, by at least 25 billion euros in 2027,” the scientist told “Bild”. This also has long-term consequences for Germany. Schneider is an expert on the so-called shadow economy.
The Pension Commission’s central proposals were announced on Saturday evening; they will not be officially presented until Tuesday. According to information from the German Press Agency, non-contributory mini-jobs should only be possible for students. This should provide an incentive to increase weekly working hours.
Schneider said he considers the introduction of mini-jobs to be one of the most successful campaigns against undeclared work. “Clandestine work fell between 20 and 23 billion euros in 2003.” According to Schneider, the value of services provided through undeclared work in Germany is currently around 500 billion euros per year.
Mini-jobs are employment relationships with an income of up to 603 euros per month, for which only low social security contributions and taxes are due.
Trade Association Against Abolition
The German Trade Association (HDE) also warned against abolishing mini-jobs. For the industry, the abolition would be “a fatal blow in the neck in these already economically difficult times,” said managing director Stefan Genth to “Bild”. There are currently around 800,000 mini-jobbers in the industry. “The mini-jobbers are indispensable for the industry to cushion peak times. As a result, the industry would have to rely even more on digitalization to compensate for the lack of workers.”
