Government agrees on minimum income protection

Government agrees on minimum income protection

VIENNA. The turquoise-blue federal government has agreed on the latest details of the reform of the minimum income guarantee. According to some information, reductions are provided for immigrants with insufficient knowledge of German, as well as a premium for single parents.

The national uniform model of relief to the poor will be released Wednesday by the Council of Ministers and will be presented by the highest government. The new minimum income guarantee should follow the decisions of a government review in Mauerbach.

For example, discounts are provided for immigrants with insufficient knowledge of German as well as a bonus for single parents. In addition, the new Basic Law should provide for stricter rules for people who do not wish to work. The amount of the guaranteed minimum income should rise to 863 euros in the future and therefore be based on a slightly higher minimum pension. In case of poor knowledge of German or English or in the absence of a compulsory diploma, this amount should be reduced from EUR 300 to EUR 563.

"Immigration in the social system is stopped"

The end was not clear as to whether and how families with multiple children can limit or "cap" cash benefits per household. In addition, the issue of access to badets as a blocking point between the ÖVP and the FPÖ has been widely publicized. The coalition parties have not yet announced Tuesday the details of the agreement, which will be presented at the government meeting on Wednesday by Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, Social Affairs Minister Beate Hartinger-Klein (FPÖ) and ÖVP club president August Wöginger

Strache said Tuesday in Brussels that "with minimal security" immigration into the social system is halted ". At the same time, Strache pointed out that emergency badistance, which will only be available next year around the planned reform of the unemployment benefit, will be maintained and "no deleted. " The government spokesman then followed a "clarification" or clarification: "Unemployment benefits and emergency badistance merge into a joint insurance benefit called" unemployment benefit NEW "as planned in the government program."

Critics fear more child poverty

Critics of the government's plans are concerned that the planned cuts will lead to poverty, especially for children. "If the federal government reformed the minimum income, my call and my request: child poverty and poverty of the elderly could not increase in Austria," said Caritas president Michael Landau, via Facebook. "We must fight against poverty, not against people affected by poverty," says Landau.

Diakonie's director, Maria Katharina Moser, was surprised by the fact that even in times of good economic conditions with sufficient budget space to save money on the lowest social network, we talk about it. Similarly, the Poverty Conference responded: "Instead of turning people into alms-seekers, the laws are so changed that they are fighting poverty rather than making people even poorer. "

Critics have also denounced the fact that the federal government focuses on the migrant origins of the recipients of the reform project. The ÖVP and the FPÖ only presented the figures over the weekend, according to which more than 60% of the minimum income beneficiaries had a "migration history".

Problems of constitutional and European law

The experts also expressed constitutional and European concerns. For example, the minimum income protection system of Lower Austria was repealed by the Constitutional Court because of the ceiling and the European Court of Justice overturned the Upper Austrian model because of the cuts to temporary asylum seekers. The government has therefore expressed its willingness, with the badistance of constitutional experts, to find a valid solution both before the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

Figures and data on social badistance

According to figures released Sunday by the federal government, according to which more than 60% of Austrian minimum income recipients have a history of migration, according to the Public Employment Service (AMS) and Statistics Austria, this does not mean that they are in a state of migration. is not confirmed. However, one out of two welfare recipients does not have Austrian nationality.

The government relied on the figures from the AMS. According to this, 62.8% of all registered minimum income beneficiaries are from immigration. However, the proportion of unemployed beneficiaries represents only one-third of all people with a minimum income, as reported on Tuesday morning newspaper Ö1, citing AMS data. Since people of migrant origin are more often affected by unemployment, this figure can not be extrapolated to all beneficiaries.

50,42% Austrian

According to "Der Standard", according to Statistics Austria data, there were an average of 222,087 recipients per month. Of these, just over half (50.42%) were Austrian citizens. A good seven percent were citizens of the EU or the EEA. 42.4% came from third countries.

A statement on the proportion of people from immigration can not be made. Austrian citizens can also find people from immigration. However, these are not valued separately by Statistics Austria. Just under a third (31.2%) of the minimum income beneficiaries belong to the category of persons entitled to asylum and subsidiary protection allowances.

In addition to immigrants, those out of school are also affected by the reform. According to Statistics Austria, there are no exact figures on the number of Austrians who have not completed compulsory education. However, among students who had attended school compulsorily during the 2013/2014 school year, 3.8% still did not have compulsory education.

Due to incomplete data, the German government announced Tuesday additional information. Through the Transparency Database, he wants to collect accurate information on recipients from countries, social insurance institutions, the AMS and the relevant authorities. In addition to age, bad, amount and duration of earnings, status under the Immigration Act and a possible "migration context" must also be recorded.