Hartz IV

Germany is one of the most prosperous industrial nations in Europe, but at the same time the proportion of the population living in poverty or threatened by it is growing. According to current surveys by the Paritätische Gesamtverband, more than fifteen percent of people are at risk of poverty,... [...]

The rising costs of energy have become a depressing burden that unstoppably overlaps life. What used to be taken for granted is now becoming a luxury that is imperceptibly withdrawing and people... [...]

Social assistance shows with particular harshness how much an administration can move away from the reality of life of those affected if they order measures without seriously considering the practical side of the costs. Dates will be... [...]

Unemployment insurance is often presented as a reliable safety net, as a kind of silent companion in the event that working life suddenly falters. In practice, however, it looks more like a... [...]

For many of those affected, the Hartz IV system is a single chain of deficiency and systematic disadvantage. The shortfall is particularly noticeable when it comes to heating costs, rental costs and electricity costs. Social existence remains far below what... [...]

In January 2002, the Federal Labor Office came into the focus of a severe crisis of confidence after the Federal Court of Auditors had uncovered considerable errors and discrepancies in the statistics on job placement. The broad media coverage... [...]

The problem of high social security contributions and taxes, especially VAT, on income in the minimum wage sector, reveals a profound systemic underfunding of the actual subsistence level in Germany. While politics tirelessly emphasizes that work protects against poverty and... [...]

With the reform of disability pensions, the state's withdrawal from its social responsibility began quietly but unstoppably. What was once intended as a protective shield for the working person was transformed into a system that hardly... [...]

The job placement system in the context of Hartz IV is a prime example of profound structural problems that clearly miss the goal of active help and sustainable integration of the unemployed. Authorities employees are exposed to massive requirements: their success will... [...]

Anyone who lives at the subsistence level should cover all the basic expenses with a monthly standard rate of just over five hundred euros: food, clothing, hygiene, travel expenses, telephone, electricity and all the rest of daily life. In papers and reports... [...]