Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) Photo: dpa
By Nils Kottmann
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (43, FDP) no longer wants to finance long-term unemployed jobs from the state treasury!
According to “Spiegel”, Lindner plans to cut the budget for the so-called “social labor market” by 609 million euros to just five million euros per year by 2029. This means that the employment measure for around 42,000 long-term unemployed would be over.
The “social labor market” was introduced in 2019 by Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (49, SPD). The idea: companies hire long-term unemployed people in full-time positions and the state pays wages for five years – 100 percent in the first year and 70 percent in the fifth year. This should give people who are difficult to place due to illness or social problems a chance on the job market.
The program was originally intended to finance 150,000 jobs – according to the Federal Employment Agency, 42,000 long-term unemployed are currently taking part. The “social labor market” cost around four billion euros between 2019 and 2021.
The Lindner plan also provides for the basic security for job seekers to be reduced from 4.8 to 4.2 billion euros.
