Unvollständige Inanspruchnahme von Grundsicherungsleistungen

"With the citizen's benefit scheme (Bürgergeld), a one-year grace period has been introduced: In the first year of receiving the citizen's benefit, the job centre does not have to check the adequacy of housing costs and higher personal assets may be kept without deductions in the benefits. As a result, the citizen's benefit is more generous for some people in the first year, cushioning them against social hardship. With the same aim people who transitioned from unemployment benefit to unemployment benefit II received a temporary supplement to their benefits for up to two years after the end of their unemployment benefit receipt. This supplement was available until the end of 2010, when it was abolished as part of cost-saving measures. In order to receive the supplement, the previous receipt of unemployment benefit had to be declared and documented in the application for unemployment benefit II. The supplement amounted to two-thirds of the difference between the previous unemployment benefit (plus housing benefit, if applicable) and unemployment benefit II. In the first year after the end of unemployment benefit receipt, it was limited to 160 euro for single persons and 320 euro for couples plus 60 euro per child; in the second year, the supplement and the limits were halved. Between 2007 and 2010, 3 to 5 percent of all persons able to work and receiving unemployment benefit II received the supplement to unemployment benefit II (as of 30 June). With an average of about 110 euro in these years, the supplement corresponded to about 16 percent of the recipients’ total benefits. The comparatively small share of all recipients of unemployment benefit II who received the supplement is due to the supplement being targeted at people transitioning from unemployment benefit to unemployment benefit II. Among those who transitioned between the two benefit schemes within 300 days and were potentially eligible for the full supplement, almost 60 percent received it in addition to unemployment benefit II. Immediately after the transition to unemployment benefit II, the supplement amounted on average to about 150 euro, i.e. more than one fifth of the total benefit including housing and heating costs. For its recipients, the supplement thus constituted a substantial part of their income. For persons living alone, the non-take-up of the supplement can be analysed on the basis of administrative data, as eligibility for the supplement can be validly determined on the basis of the previous unemployment benefit. For larger households, determining the eligibility for the supplement is more complex and prone to error. Among those living alone, at least 17 percent of those entitled to the supplement to unemployment benefit II did not receive it. Entitled persons with lower educational and vocational qualifications and those of foreign origin were less likely to receive the supplement. People registered at municipal job centres were more likely to receive the supplement than people who were registered at job centres run jointly by the municipality and the Federal Employment Agency. Possible reasons for this are different administrative procedures in municipal job centres and in job centres run jointly with the Federal Employment Agency. Different responsibilities with regard to financing between municipalities and the federal government could also play a role. Incomplete take-up of basic subsistence benefits can have negative individual and social consequences: Poverty may worsen, even in the long term, and the welfare state may be perceived as ineffective, which could ultimately also affect social cohesion. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that vulnerable groups in particular often do not take up the supplement. Social administrations could systematically take measures to improve take-up. These include information campaigns in several languages, target-group-specific applications in plain German as well as in other important languages, transparent calculation of benefits by well-equipped and qualified staff, support services in the case of incomplete applications and missing documents, and options for digital plausibility checks when calculating benefits. While the application for and calculation of the supplement was rather demanding for entitled persons and for the job centres, it remains to be seen to what extent the grace period introduced with the citizen's benefit scheme is easier to administer and how the take-up of the grace period evolves." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))