Citizens' income under pressure: Why millions of recipients now have to fear for their benefits

Even before the coalition committee meeting begins this Wednesday, leading representatives of the CDU and CSU are increasing the pressure on the SPD. Their demands include lower costs for the citizen's income – and a fundamental change of course in social policy. For CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn, it's clear: the citizen's income has gotten financially out of control.

More than 50 billion euros annually – a sum that, from the Union's perspective, is no longer acceptable in terms of budgetary discipline and fiscal stability. Therefore, the reform of the citizen's income agreed upon by the coalition is now a top priority for the Union.

Bavaria's Minister President Markus Söder also added fuel to the fire, blustering: "It cannot be that we have record spending on the citizen's income and therefore have to postpone other important issues like electricity tax relief. This is precisely what the coalition committee will discuss." While the welfare state should not be "shredded," he emphasized, a comprehensive "update" is still needed—particularly regarding basic social security. Citizen's income versus electricity tax relief to ease the burden on small and medium-sized businesses : This is likely to spark debate within the coalition!

The CSU leader also announced that the controversial electricity tax would therefore also be up for discussion in the coalition committee. "We also need to discuss this again and take a holistic view," Söder said. The reason for the debate is that, despite the austerity plans originally announced in the coalition agreement, the government has to spend five billion euros more on the citizen's income, and the budget has reached a new record high of almost 52 billion euros – due to the economic situation and the difficult labor market.

Coalition crash? SPD irritated by Union's attacks

Indeed, the ball is now in the coalition partner's court, and increasingly also in the newly formed coalition committee, which will also include Labor Minister Bärbel Bas . She was elected as the new SPD chairwoman alongside Lars Klingbeil at the party conference this weekend with more than 95 percent of the vote.

On Monday, Bas expressed irritation at the attacks from the CDU/CSU. She countered the electricity tax proposal on Deutschlandfunk radio by saying that they had jointly decided to first relieve the burden on the economy and secure jobs. However, the Federal Labor Minister pointed out that additional relief for citizens could still come during this legislative period.

But she will now likely have to deal intensively with the citizen's income. Bas recently announced that she intends to take more rigorous action against fraud in the citizen's income system. However, how benefits might be cut or sanctions tightened, for example, remains to be seen. Therefore, the CDU/CSU's rush to action is likely to cause dismay within the SPD .

How realistic is such a change of course – and what would it mean?

A complete "system change" in the citizen's allowance, as suggested by the CDU/CSU, would mean a return to significantly stricter reasonableness rules and faster benefit cuts in the event of a lack of cooperation. A stronger differentiation for benefit-seeking communities, for example through stricter consideration of partner income, is also informally under discussion.

CSU regional group leader Alexander Hoffmann puts it succinctly: The Union wants to replace the citizen's allowance with a new, labor-market-oriented basic security – with the goal of bringing more people into employment through greater personal responsibility. Sources within the Union told the Berliner Zeitung on Monday: Although the standard rate is inviolable due to the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling, there are other options. The tenor is clear: less money, less entitlement.

Citizens' allowance: Cuts can be made in these areas

However, the federal government has only limited leeway when it comes to the largest expenditure items in the area of ​​basic social security. The so-called standard benefits – the monthly citizen's allowance for those entitled to them – are expected to total around €29.6 billion in 2025. In addition, there will be approximately €13 billion for housing costs. Both items are considered legally mandatory benefits. By law, recipients of citizen's allowance are entitled to a dignified minimum standard of living – inviolable under the Basic Law. This means that if the number of benefit recipients increases – which is already foreseeable given the strained economic situation and the difficult labor market – these expenditures will automatically increase.

However, there is scope for flexibility in the so-called active benefits – the funds with which job centers finance job placement measures and ensure their ongoing operations. These include training programs, integration assistance, and personnel costs for job placement officers. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, and CDU leader Friedrich Merz can actually influence this part of the budget.

A moderate increase is planned in this area for 2025: the budget for active services is to increase by 150 million euros.

“A system change would require far-reaching legislative changes”

Experts believe that a radical change is not likely, but rather a gradual adjustment. According to labor market experts, a complete system change would require far-reaching legislative changes, possibly even involving the Federal Constitutional Court . More realistic, targeted adjustments are possible—for example, regarding the length of waiting periods, protected assets, or the sanctions for breaches of duty. In Germany, approximately 5.5 million people receive citizen's allowance. In Berlin alone, there are 446,208 eligible recipients of citizen's allowance, of whom 327,212 are employable.

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