The black-red coalition plans a comprehensive modernization of the social system to reduce bureaucracy and digitize processes. A commission with representatives from the federal government, states, and municipalities has developed 26 recommendations, which Federal Social Minister Bärbel Bas will present on Tuesday. Planned are fewer authorities, merged benefits, and automatic child benefit, without cuts to social assistance.
The federal government under the black-red coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD has set out to make the social state more efficient and less bureaucratic. Since early September, a commission has met quietly, consisting of representatives from the federal level, states such as Bavaria, Hamburg, Saxony, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia, municipalities, and MPs from the coalition parties. The mandate was to modernize the social state. Now, a 50-page draft with 26 recommendations is available, which the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) and the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) have reviewed.
Key proposals include reducing the responsible authorities to one contact point per benefit recipient: Jobcenters for those able to work and social offices for those unable. Currently, recipients must apply for benefits like basic security, housing allowance, or child supplement at up to four places. A complete centralization of all social benefits would require a change to the Basic Law.
Furthermore, social benefits such as basic security (formerly citizen's income), child supplement, and housing allowance should be merged to avoid constant application switches with fluctuating incomes. To provide more work incentives, a new system for additional earnings alongside social assistance is to be developed, as wages are currently often almost fully deducted.
A simple proposal is the automatic payment of child benefit from birth – 259 euros per child per month, regardless of income – without an application. Greater data exchange between authorities and a central digital social portal are intended to prevent repetitions of information and speed up processes. No benefit cuts are planned.
The German Social Association reacted positively: "For us, it was always clear: The report of the Social State Commission must not become a gateway for cuts in social benefits," said Chairwoman Michaela Engelmeier to RND. "Therefore, it is good that the social protection level is to be maintained." She emphasized that digitalizations must be barrier-free and accessible.
Implementation is to proceed swiftly: Laws on work incentives and benefit mergers by mid or end of 2027, with the digital overhaul taking longer. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) announced a "new social state model" in November.
