By Dirk Hoeren and Karina Mössbauer
The traffic light collects the next promise!
This time it’s about: parental allowance! In the coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP announced that benefits for parents should be linked to price developments. Specifically, it says: “We will make the basic and maximum amount of parental allowance more dynamic.”
But that won’t happen for the time being. Reason according to the Family Ministry: There is not enough money in the federal budget of Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44, FDP).
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (44, FDP), Economics Minister Robert Habeck (54, Greens) and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD) Photo: dpa
“Due to the strict savings requirements of the Federal Ministry of Finance, the increasing expenditure on parental allowance must be curbed from 2024,” says a response from the Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Family Affairs, Ekin Deligöz (Greens), to a question in the Bundestag. “Unlike what was agreed in the coalition agreement, parental allowance cannot currently be adjusted to the purchase price development.”
The adjustment of parental benefits (300 to 1,800 euros per month) will definitely be canceled next year. As a result, families lose purchasing power.
Inflation adjustment on the brink
So far this year, prices have risen by an average of more than six percent. With the originally promised inflation adjustment, the monthly parental allowance would have had to increase by at least 18 euros and a maximum by 108 euros with an increase of six percent.
What it will look like after 2024 is also anyone’s guess. “Which parental benefit measures can still be implemented in this legislative period will be discussed within the federal government,” the State Secretary’s answer continued. Plain text: Inflation adjustment will continue to be in jeopardy in the future.
The CDU accuses the traffic light coalition and Family Minister Lisa Paus (55, Greens) of acting against the interests of families and mothers. “The traffic lights and especially the minister are a total disappointment for families, especially for women and mothers,” said CDU Vice President Silvia Breher (50). There is a lack of “any commitment to compatibility and equality”.
The FDP is calling for further changes to parental allowance for cost reasons. The benefit period is to be shortened from 14 months to twelve months.