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…”
Tag: Germany
Poverty Rate – Germany
- Study reveals a steep rise in German poverty levels, By Andreas Illmer, February 17, 2010, Deutsche Welle: “One in seven people is now defined as living on or below the poverty line, according to a report. Families with children and young people were particularly likely to struggle for money, researchers found. The proportion of people defined as being ‘at risk of poverty’ in Germany has risen significantly over the course of a decade. Some 11.5 million Germans, 14 percent of the population, fell into that category in 2008 – about a third more than ten years earlier. Children and young people are particularly hard-hit, according to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) released on Wednesday…”
- Number of Germans living in poverty surges, February 17, 2010, The Local: “The ranks of the poor in Germany have swelled over the past decade, as a study released on Wednesday showed more than 11 million people living in poverty. According to the alarming figures published by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the number of people below the poverty line – 14 percent of the total population – expanded by a third in the last ten years. The study analysed income data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), which operates under the DIW. It found that young people between the ages of 19 and 25 and families were at particular risk…”
Child Poverty – Germany
German children blighted by poverty, By Steve Rosenberg, July 16, 2009, BBC News: “Twelve-year-old Jasmin Thiel and her twin brother Florian do not look poor. They have a DVD player and a colour TV. Jasmin is clutching a mobile phone. But they are among the millions in Germany caught in a growing pool of poverty. Much of what this Berlin family owns, from their furniture to their clothes, has been handed out by local charities…”