Social Welfare System – Germany

Germans contemplate cuts to social welfare system, By Borzou Daragahi, July 18, 2010, Los Angeles Times: “Unemployed mom Fee Linker lives on welfare benefits in a centrally located five-room flat that costs about $1,500 a month. The garden terrace looks out onto a lush wooded area where birds chirp in the trees. ‘I wouldn’t get along without this government money, not with this apartment,’ says Linker, who sends her 6-year-old daughter and two sons, 7 and 10, to a private school. ‘It’s my opinion that as a mother of three, I deserve a comfortable life.’ These days, fewer politicians and economist agree, and if proposed laws are enacted, Linker’s benefits could be gone with the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen. The German government is contemplating spending cuts and tax increases totaling $100 billion by 2014. The Cabinet approved the measures July 7, though many details have not been disclosed. But proposals so far include slashing $40 billion in welfare benefits, in part by allowing caseworkers to decide how much, if anything, people like Linker get instead of doling out automatic payments…”