Overview
- The cabinet-backed plan to replace Bürgergeld with a reworked Grundsicherung heads to its first Bundestag reading on 15–16 January, with committee hearings through March and a targeted 1 July 2026 start; the Bundesrat will consider the bill in late March, though formal consent is not required.
- Under the draft, missing a first Jobcenter appointment triggers no cut, the second brings a 30% reduction for one month, and a third results in a full suspension, with retroactive payment possible if the person reports back within one month.
- Further planned penalties include a direct 30% reduction of the standard rate for three months for duty breaches such as abandoning training or skipping applications, reinstated placement priority for jobs over qualification, scrapping of the asset-protection grace period, and direct payment of rent and heating to landlords in certain cases.
- Housing platform Immowelt and researchers caution that full benefit cutoffs could deter landlords from renting to recipients and increase municipal shelter costs, while the government points to hardship checks for families and people with mental illness.
- Separate Wohngeld reporting reiterates non-counted income such as child benefit, Kinderzuschlag, education-and-participation payments, care allowances and volunteer allowances within limits, and highlights statutory Freibeträge including €1,320 for many single parents and €1,800 for severely disabled or care-dependent household members, as well as asset limits and case-by-case minimum income rules.