Berlin – So yes: Social Minister Bärbel Bas (57, SPD) believes that his reform of citizens’ benefits could possibly result in savings of a billion euros or more!
The revised draft law for support reform shows that the more citizens receiving benefits who find work, the greater the effect of savings for the country. And the amount can reach around one billion euros per year or even more.
Specifically, the draft states: It should e.g. For example, if 100,000 aid recipients found work, state spending would “reduce by around 850 million euros per year”. In addition, around 75 million euros per year is saved because aid recipients are allowed to keep fewer assets.
It sounds very different than it did in mid-October. At that time, Bas had already sent the first draft of the support reform to his fellow ministers, which only mentioned savings of 86 million euros in 2026. In 2027 it should only be 69 million euros.
Now the minister made it clear in the revised draft: Depending on the economic situation and labor market developments, the savings could be ten times higher.
And Bas predicts further impacts on state funds and social security: the more citizens receiving benefits who work, the more tax revenues and income from pension, health and care funds will be.
About 5.4 million people currently receive citizen benefits. Estimated costs this year: more than 50 billion euros.
The reform of citizens’ benefits is scheduled to come into effect on July 1, 2026. However, possible savings of around one billion or more are still far below the target set by Chancellor Friedrich Merz (70, CDU). During the election campaign he promised savings of five billion euros a year…
