Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Germany does not have a revenue problem - but it does have a spending problem! According to a report by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research on the labor market integration of Ukrainian refugees, around 266,000 Ukrainian refugees were employed in July 2024, with around 213,000 in jobs subject to social insurance contributions and 53,000 in mini-jobs. The employment rate was just under 27 percent in the first quarter of 2024. 27% is far too low! No state can afford that in the long term."

Astrid Lund - Betty MacDonald fan club organizer: "Germany does not have a revenue problem - but it does have a spending problem! According to a report by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research on the labor market integration of Ukrainian refugees, around 266,000 Ukrainian refugees were employed in July 2024, with around 213,000 in jobs subject to social insurance contributions and 53,000 in mini-jobs. The employment rate was just under 27 percent in the first quarter of 2024. 27% is far too low! No state can afford that in the long term."-------------------------------- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Debate about citizen's allowance: What benefits are available to Ukrainian refugees Article by Laura Gabler • 56 million • 4 minutes reading time Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner is proposing a new legal status for refugees from Ukraine in order to reduce the cost of citizen's allowance and bring more benefit recipients into the labor market. "Ukrainians do not have to go through a special asylum application process because of the war in their homeland," said the FDP politician. "On the other hand, however, they should not immediately receive a citizen's allowance that is geared towards a socio-economic minimum subsistence level with social participation even without work." The most important questions and answers. What do Christian Lindner's reform plans envisage? Lindner proposes introducing a separate legal status for Ukrainians that is a mixture of "the benefits for asylum seekers combined with the labor market policy instruments of the citizen's allowance," as he said in an interview with the magazine "Wirtschaftswoche." This means that Ukrainians would still not have to go through an asylum application process, but would also not have an automatic right to the citizen's allowance. In addition, Lindner wants to reform the citizen's allowance not only for Ukrainian refugees, but also for all other benefit recipients. In the interview, he demands that citizens' allowance recipients should in future be reimbursed for their housing costs as a lump sum and not based on the actual costs. "Then the benefit recipients can decide whether to move into a smaller apartment and how to heat it. I believe that we can save billions of euros here," he said. This demand from the FDP is not new. In June, FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai spoke out in favor of lower state benefits for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian war of aggression to Germany. "Newly arrived war refugees from Ukraine should no longer receive citizen's allowance in the future, but should fall under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act," he told the "Bild" newspaper at the time. What benefits are Ukrainian refugees currently receiving? Since June 2022, Ukrainian refugees have been entitled to citizen's allowance. This means they receive better benefits than other refugees in Germany who are supported under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. Citizen's allowance offers higher monthly payments as well as additional supplements for single parents and pregnant women. Ukrainian refugees also receive a health insurance card that gives them access to preventive examinations and other medical services. Single people receive 563 euros per month, while partners receive 506 euros each. Adult children living in their parents' household receive 451 euros per month. Financial support is also available for younger children. In addition, the state covers the costs of accommodation, heating and hot water, provided these are deemed appropriate. How do the benefits for Ukrainian refugees differ from those for other refugees? Asylum seekers who are not from Ukraine are supported under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. People living alone receive 460 euros per month. Couples who live together receive less, as the state assumes that they can manage their finances together. For children, the amounts vary depending on age and range between 312 and 408 euros. The decision to grant Ukrainian refugees in Germany the citizen's allowance instead of paying them the lower amount under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act was a political decision. How many Ukrainians in Germany are currently receiving citizen's allowance? According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 717,000 Ukrainian refugees in Germany were receiving citizen's allowance in June 2024. Of these, around 505,000 are employable people, while 212,000 are not employable - most of them are children. In total, around 1.3 million people with Ukrainian citizenship live in Germany who have fled since the start of the Russian war of aggression in 2022.