So, from July 1, 2006, what 2.3 million unemployed people in the east of the Federal Republic had been seeking for more than a year will happen. The ALG II benefit will finally become uniform for the whole country, and will no longer differ depending on the unemployed person's place of residence. In the eastern states, its level will rise by €14 per month – from the current €331 to €345. Thus, according to politicians, social justice is being restored: at last, "second-class" citizens, artificially created by the previous Federal Government of Gerhard Schröder, will disappear.
True, the parliamentary majority did not support the demands of representatives of the Left Party to increase the benefit retroactively (from January 2005). Deputies considered that this change in legislation would require too much financial expenditure. And in conditions of a state budget deficit, such expenses are hardly possible.
It was precisely the need to save money that also caused the second fundamental innovation approved by parliamentarians. Also from July 1, 2006, unemployed people under 25 will receive only 80% of ALG II if they continue to live with their parents. In figures, this percentage looks like this: instead of €345, only €276 will be paid. At the same time, obtaining a new state-funded apartment will from now on be very difficult. Local employment agencies have been instructed to take an extremely strict approach to the question of permitting young unemployed people to move. From now on, such a request will be examined through a "double magnifying glass." Those who, according to the old legislation, did not manage to set up their own household at the expense of the state (before February 17) can hardly now count on the favor of civil servants from employment agencies.
It is expected that the innovation concerning unemployed youth will allow the grand coalition to save about €600 million annually. Despite the outrage of various social unions, politicians stood firmly in defense of the changes they had made to legislation. Both representatives of the SPD and the CDU/CSU unanimously supported the reduction of the benefit. "Many young unemployed people have acquired state-funded apartments in recent months; they simply exploited the broad legal framework of the law," emphasized CDU deputy Gerald Weiss. He was supported by Social Democrat Nils Annen. In his opinion, there were clearly mass cases of abuse in this matter. The politician also proposed using the saved funds to develop retraining programs for ALG II recipients who have been unemployed for a long time.
So far, all efforts of the Federal Government to create jobs for young people are actually going down the drain. The number of unemployed young people under the age of 25 remains very high. Last year, there were 621,851 of them, of which 405,999 in the "old" federal states and 215,852 in the "new" ones. This unpleasant indicator remains one of the highest among all European Union countries.
At the same time, it cannot be said that responsibility for this situation lies solely on the shoulders of politicians. They have done a lot to increase the legislative opportunities for a young person to obtain a job or an apprenticeship place. Employers continue to be financially incentivized to take on apprentices or provide internship places. However, the statistics here are still bleak. Of the 284 thousand young people who received the opportunity for vocational training in 2004, only 243 thousand completed the course of study. Moreover, only about 200 thousand wished then to start work.
All the innovations still have to be approved by the Bundesrat. However, there will be no problems there – the grand coalition has already decided everything for itself.