12 April 2013

Diakonie Deutschland have recently published a policy paper which when translated is entitled “Social Security for children and youth developed to be simple transparent, and targeted”.
• To download the paper in German click here.
• A summary of the paper in English is below.

The monetary instruments to prevent child and youth poverty in Germany are not sufficient. This can be seen through many evidences throughout the German system. For example, the government aid to families (extra state-funded monetary allowances given to parents with children) in many cases leads to better support and development for children from high-income families than for middle or low income. In addition, the special needs of children and families are hardly guaranteed. Furthermore, the promotion of education and participation is designed in a very complicated way, does not take account of specific regional needs and reaches the care providers only indirectly.

Government aid to families and social services for children and youth at a glance

The social situation and the financial support of children and youth in Germany depend on the income of parents and the size of the family. Consequently they are very different:

• The government-sponsored aid for a family with a high income for parents and children who are younger than 14 can lead to a stronger monetary support than for those children who receive benefits under SGBII.
• Single parents and families with more than two children are at higher risk of income-related poverty.
• The Education and Participation Package does not reach those who are receiving benefits. The application is too complicated and the approval periods for various services are contradictory to one another. A significant portion of allotted funds will never be received.

Diakonie Deutschland supports an aid orientation which is based on preventing and avoiding the risk of poverty. This includes having the chance and ability to take part in economic and social structures. Not having the chance to take part in community will give children the sense that they are passive onlookers. Only through the improvement of participation is a permanent security from poverty in the sense of exclusion possible. Diakonie Deutschland sees that the task at hand for politics will be to relieve families of all kinds, to provide monetary support for family-related infrastructure services.

Recommendations

The German Diaconia suggests support for children and young people using three pillars. These consist of consistent financial support instead of assorted child allowances, child benefits, child contributions, child regulations and a flat rate as part of the Education and Participation Package; demand-led funding in case of need, with direct payment to parents (housing, school requirements, trips, learning support, lunch, health, major purchases); and infrastructure support per regional needs directly to providers (day care, care for under-threes, stronger support for help, advice and activity service

The Reformed Church in Hungary launched a new campaign last week entitled “We all sit at one table.” The main image is a re-interpretation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” and portrays individuals served by each of the four main social services that the church provides, all of whom are seated around one long table with the Eucharist sitting in the middle. The services represented are drug and alcohol rehabilitation, handicapped mission, family mission and mission to the elderly. Each year in Hungary, taxpayers can donate 1% of their income to the church of their choice, as well as an additional optional 1% to an NGO. The image will be portrayed both on the internet and billboards with the goal of raising awareness about the church’s work as well as encouraging citizens to consider directing their 1% church donation to supporting the work of the Reformed Church in Hungary. To read more about the “We all sit at one table” campaign in English, please click here. The full image of the campaign with interactive features and video overviews of each services represented can be found here.