Despite the fact that Germany is undoubtedly one of the richest countries in the world, the problem of social inequality and, in particular, the financial insolvency, i.e. poverty, of some of its citizens compared to others has not yet been finally resolved. Of course, in the case of European countries, we are not talking about poverty as a factor that poses a threat to a person. Such a phenomenon as «physical poverty» (as Olaf Scholz called the situation when people actually starve or are left without a roof over their heads and means of subsistence) Germany managed to leave in the distant past. Today's German «homeless» are in most cases vagabonds by state of mind, refusing state help out of some personal convictions.
In Europe, it is customary to speak of «relative poverty», when a person's financial situation does not allow him to enjoy all the social benefits that make up the life of a full-fledged citizen of modern European society, such as decent education, the opportunity to make new social contacts, and leisure.
In Germany, all those who earn net less than €781 per month fall into the category of the poor. And as of today, that is 13%. If we add to them recipients of state benefits and subsidies, that is another 13%. So it turns out that almost a quarter of Germans live below the poverty line in the European sense of the word.
The problem of class stratification of society, especially in a welfare state such as Germany, has been and remains fertile ground for political battles. As soon as the new data on the number of low-income people in the country became public, numerous «rationalization» proposals for solving the problem immediately appeared in political circles. Members of the SPD traditionally spoke in favor of increased taxation of the rich, especially regarding income and inheritance taxes. They also proposed reintroducing the previously existing wealth tax, again for the most affluent category of citizens. Of course, the Social Democrats did not forget to refresh voters' memories of their demand for the introduction of minimum wages in all areas of labor.
Conservatives from the CDU called for making education more accessible so that everyone can take care of their bright and well-fed future themselves. Minimum wages were called killer of jobs by this camp – indeed, after their introduction in the postal sector, the number of jobs sharply declined.
The sad statistics also served as an excellent reason for the opposition to once again reproach the ruling coalition for the inefficiency of its work. Although their criticism of the ruling parties cannot be called pure populism. If we consider that during the time when the grand coalition was vigorously fighting to reduce unemployment, the number of low-paid workers increased, who automatically moved from the category of unemployed to the category of poor. And then the question arises: did the elected representatives confuse the goal – namely, improving the living standards of their citizens – with the means to achieve it, such as employing the unemployed?
Yelena Gromova.