The () is Germany's unemployment payment introduced on 1 January 2023. The was developed by Olaf Scholz's coalition government and agreed by Germany's two chambers in November 2022. Compared to its predecessor (commonly known as Hartz IV), it has a higher unemployment grant (). Adult jobseekers living alone now received a default sum of €502 per month, compared to previously €449. The introduction of also increased the amount of personal wealth that beneficiaries can hold without being deducted part of their unemployment grant. A single adult can own up to €40,000. also replaced the

Sozialgeld Social benefit to § 28 SGB II is a special performance of the German welfare system, which the social assistance Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet bas ...

, a benefit for people who cannot work.

Predecessor

The predecessor Hartz IV was introduced on 1 January 2005 by the

Second Schröder cabinet The Second Schröder cabinet ( German: ''Kabinett Schröder II'') was the 19th Government of Federal Republic of Germany in office from 22 October 2002 until 22 November 2005. It succeeded the First Schröder cabinet formed after the 2002 el ...

, a coalition of the German

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and Greens. How much money beneficiaries received was adjusted several times since. In 2011, the grand coalition between Social Democrats and Christian Democrats reformed Hartz IV.

Reform

Beginning in 2022, labour minister

Hubertus Heil Hubertus Heil (born 3 November 1972) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who has been serving as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the first c ...

(Social Democrats) developed the proposal for the ruling traffic light coalition. After the coalition passed their proposal in Germany's lower chamber (

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

), the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) vetoed it in the upper chamber ( Bundesrat). This led to negotiations and a Bundesrat-Bundestag compromise reached via the procedure.

References

{{Reflist Unemployment in Germany Welfare in Germany Scholz cabinet