BERLIN (Dow Jones) – Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) is stepping on the brakes on the planned basic child security. In view of the current financial situation, priorities must be set, Lindner told the portal T-online. “Not everything that is desirable goes immediately. Specifically, there is no concept for basic child security,” says Lindner.
Regarding the key issues paper presented by Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus (Greens), Lindner said that several working groups from different ministries had been set up in the cabinet. You have to wait for the results. For him, it’s all about them digitalization and the simplification of child support. Higher transfers are “not always the silver bullet”.
“Child poverty has increased primarily due to immigration. So let’s take the example of a family where the parents don’t have a job and don’t speak German. Do we then simply transfer them more money? Or do we invest in language training for parents and children? And in the effort to integrate parents into the labor market? Children also benefit from this in the long term,” said Lindner.
In its coalition agreement, the traffic light coalition agreed on the introduction of basic child security. Family Minister Paus plans to pay them out from 2025. In addition to the current child benefit, there should be an additional income-related amount.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 22, 2023 02:28 ET (07:28 GMT)