Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition suffered a legislative setback on Friday, when the upper house of parliament blocked proposed changes to the country’s Hartz IV welfare benefits. The defeat could delay plans to implement the reforms by January 1.
The Labour Ministry admitted on Wednesday it made a numerical error in its draft law on the controversial €5 rise in long-term unemployment benefits, fuelling opposition claims that the new rate has been calculated in a slipshod manner.
The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) vowed on Wednesday to fight Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government coalition plan to reform the Hartz IV welfare system, saying they believe payment calculations are incorrect and possibly even manipulated.
The risk of poverty in Germany is “very high” because the long-term unemployed have little incentive to work, the OECD said Tuesday in a dramatic entry into the Hartz IV debate.
Heartless or sensible? The government’s announcement of a meagre €5-per-month rise in long-term unemployment benefits touches the core of Germany's identity as a welfare state, according to papers in The Local's German Media Roundup on Monday.
Former Finance Minister and Social Democratic heavyweight Peer Steinbrück has warned his party against lurching to the left in a speech that could position him as the party’s next candidate for Chancellor.
Opposition parties and welfare advocates gathered their forces on Monday to launch a major attack on the government’s modest €5-a-month rise in long-term unemployment payments.
Opposition parties on Tuesday blasted Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement about changes to Hartz IV unemployment benefits, saying she had dodged the question about the precise rise in rates.
The Labour Ministry said Wednesday it wants to abolish the term that describes welfare benefits, <i>Hartz IV</i>, from general German usage in favour of one that can be more easily understood.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet signed off Wednesday on a hefty austerity package that critics say will hit the poorest hardest and could endanger Germany and therefore Europe's economic recovery.
Children of families on Germany's Hartz IV welfare benefits will be given special voucher credit cards to access educational and extracurricular activities rather than their parents being handed cash, under a government scheme detailed this week.
Germany’s ruling centre-right coalition, along with the opposition and social organisations, began bickering on Monday over proposed reforms to the country’s Hartz IV unemployment benefits that could lead to increased payments.
People on Hartz IV unemployment benefits could be restricted to renting apartments of 25 square metres or less under a radical plan floated by the Ministry of Labour, media reported Friday.
Cuts to Germany's <i>Elterngeld</i> parenting benefits will be deeper than previously thought, with its centre-right government planning to benefits for low-income parents who work part-time, media reported Friday.
Seriously disabled children of Hartz IV welfare benefits recipients have no right to additional benefits, Germany's Federal Social Court ruled Thursday.
The nation’s top union boss has claimed that the pro-business Free Democrats are showing right-wing populist tendencies and even compared them in a Monday interview to Austria’s notorious Freedom Party founded by the late Jörg Haider.
Welfare recipients hoping for a windfall from the current review of Hartz IV unemployment benefits are set for disappointment after Germany's highest court ruled Thursday that any hike should not be backdated.
Children of unemployed parents should be able to take holiday jobs without the additional income affecting their family’s Hartz IV welfare payments under a move to fix an “incomprehensible” flaw in the system, Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle said Wednesday.
Germany's Hartz IV welfare recipients will not get additional money to clothe their fast-growing children after a court ruled Tuesday that a revolving wardrobe door was just a fact of life for parents of young kids.
Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen blasted the opposition Social Democrats’ proposals for reforming Hartz IV welfare benefits Tuesday as a “backward” vision that aimed to make recipients “as comfortable as possible.”
More than half of German voters back Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle’s robust attacks on Germany’s welfare system, saying his fiery rhetoric has been justified, a poll released on Friday revealed.
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday took a swipe at her coalition partner Guido Westerwelle on Thursday, suggesting he was inflaming the debate over welfare by trumpeting himself as the lone voice on “taboo” topics.
Continuing his fiery criticism of Germany’s social welfare benefits, Foreign Minister and head of the pro-business Free Democrats Guido Westerwelle on Friday advocated tough action against those who abuse them.
German Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle’s fiery rhetoric over welfare has failed to turn around his slide in popularity, with a poll released Wednesday showing the approval rating of his Free Democrats (FDP) sinking to 7 percent.
