Labor market expert at the German Economic Institute, Holger Schäfer, does not expect there to be fewer citizen benefit recipients in the coming year.
“Basically, the number of citizen beneficiaries follows the general development of the labor market with a certain delay,” Schäfer told the German editorial network (RND). “Since this is currently leading to an increase in unemployment, I am not particularly optimistic for next year,” added the IW economist. “I think it is unlikely that the number of beneficiaries will decrease significantly.”
On Tuesday, the Federal Ministry of Labor denied media reports that state spending would be 9.6 billion euros higher next year than officially reported. A spokesman explained that the approximately 36 billion euros planned for citizens’ money in the federal budget was an estimate based on official assumptions about economic development, unemployment and inflation. The expected impact of “growth initiatives” was also taken into account. The federal government expects billions in savings compared to the previous year, also due to the tightening of sanctions on citizens’ money. Overall, he assumed that there would be fewer recipients.
