Bürgergeld

The Bürgergeld (, lit. 'citizens' money') is Germany's unemployment payment introduced on 1 January 2023. The Bürgergeld was developed by Olaf Scholz's coalition government and agreed by Germany's two chambers in November 2022.

Compared to its predecessor Arbeitslosengeld II (commonly known as Hartz IV), it has a higher unemployment grant (Regelsatz). Adult jobseekers living alone now received a default sum of €502 per month (plus standard rates for rent and energy), compared to previously €449. In 2024 the sum was increased to €563. The introduction of Bürgergeld also increased the amount of personal wealth that beneficiaries can hold without a part of their unemployment grant being deducted. A single adult can own up to €40,000. Bürgergeld also replaced the Sozialgeld, a benefit for people who cannot work.

Predecessor
The Bürgergeld predecessor Hartz IV was introduced on 1 January 2005 by the Second Schröder cabinet, a coalition of the German Social Democrats and Greens. How much money beneficiaries received was adjusted several times since. In 2011, the grand coalition between Social Democrats and Christian Democrats reformed Hartz IV.

Reform
Beginning in 2022, labour minister Hubertus Heil (Social Democrats) developed the Bürgergeld proposal for the ruling traffic light coalition. After the coalition passed their proposal in Germany's lower chamber (Bundestag), the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) used their consent law veto in the upper chamber (Bundesrat). This led to negotiations and a Bundesrat-Bundestag compromise reached via the Mediation committee procedure.

Development
The basic idea behind the Bürgergeld was to bring people into the workforce. In June 2024 the number of recipients had risen for the second year to some 5,5 million people. 4 million of those were theoretically able to work, 1.5 were deemed unfit for work. While 17% of people in Germany were not German citizens at that time, 47% of the people receiving Bürgergeld belonged to that group. The statistics did not record whether someone with a German passport originally came to Germany as a migrant or a refugee. About a quarter of the 47% non-Germans came from Ukraine, Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan. Hugo Müller-Vogg commented that the industry was desperatly looking for workers, while the government made it more attractive for non-Germans in Germany to stay unemployed. The NPO Correctiv commented on the Bürgergeld for migrants and pointed out, that German law initially requires asylum seekers to stay in the state they were allocated under a refugee-sharing agreement, which may hinder them from finding work, if in a state with high shares of unemployment.