Asylum seekers will have to do three hours of community service a day or have their benefits cut under new rules in German city

Asylum seekers will have to do three hours of community service each day or face having their benefits cut under new plans set out by a struggling city in Germany.

Essen is looking to compel both asylum seekers and recipients of welfare to work for the city in an effort to stoke an economy blighted by unemployment and stagnation.

The current coalition government introduced welfare payments worth up to €563 (£476) per person per month, now received by some 5.5 million people nationwide.

But with the leading Christian Democratic Union (CDU) planning to scrap the measure if it wins the federal election next month, a CDU official in charge of social affairs, work and health in Essen hopes to trial the reversal in his municipality.

The plan would see all recipients of the payment under 65 subjected to health checks to determine whether they are fit for work. Those who are will then be referred to the job centre and connected with employees.

While looking for work, they will be expected to carry out community service for at least three hours each working day – or face having their benefits cut.

The measures are expected to extend to asylum seekers and unemployed refugees, The Times reports. 

People queue for lunch at the initial reception facility for migrants and refugees on October 05, 2023 in Eisenhuettenstadt, Germany

Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany

Kurdish Syrian asylum-applicant Mohamed Ali Hussein (R), 19, and fellow applicant Autur, from Latvia, load benches onto a truckbed while performing community service, for which they receive a small allowance, in Wilhelmsaue village on October 9, 2015 near Letschin, Germany

The second largest city in the historical industrial powerhouse of the Ruhr, unemployment stands at around 12.4 per cent, and as high as 18 per cent in the north of the city - much higher than the national average of 5.5 per cent (file)

The second largest city in the historical industrial powerhouse of the Ruhr, unemployment stands at around 12.4 per cent, and as high as 18 per cent in the north of the city – much higher than the national average of 5.5 per cent (file)

Refugees are fleeing persecution and human rights violations abroad; asylum seekers are also fleeing risk, but have not yet been legally recognised as a refugee.

Asylum seekers have already had their benefits cut this year. Single people not living in shared accommodation saw their payments for living expenses fall to €441 per month from €460 on January 1.

Couples who live in a shared flat or asylum seekers in collective accommodation saw a fall from €413 to €397.

The benefit covers food, clothing, accommodation and health services in the event of acute need.

Essen is over-represented in welfare payments, with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany.

The second largest city in the historical industrial powerhouse of the Ruhr, unemployment stands at around 12.4 per cent, and as high as 18 per cent in the north of the city – much higher than the national average of 5.5 per cent.

With a rapidly falling population, officials have tried to stimulate the economy with a push in culture and urban reform.

But the city, once a hub for Germany’s strong coal and steel industries, has been ravaged by a wider trend of deindustrialisation across the country.

Preliminary figures released last week showed that Germany’s economy had shrunk for the second year in a row in 2024, battered by external shocks and homegrown problem, including red tape and a shortage of skilled labour.

The issues have been at the heart of campaigns going into the crucial snap election brought forward to February 23. 

The CDU hopes that reforms to the welfare system will save the state as much as €10 billion (£8.46bn) per year.

They have argued that the current policy allows people to subsist without looking for work. 

As it stands, Germans out of work can receive a monthly basic payment of €563 a month, or €1,012 for a couple.

The payments cost the taxpayer €30 billion a year before housing benefits are added.

Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference at the CSU closed-door meeting at the Seeon Monastery in Seeon-Seebruck, January 8

Friedrich Merz speaks during a press conference at the CSU closed-door meeting at the Seeon Monastery in Seeon-Seebruck, January 8

Volkswagen employees in Germany rally to warn of a strike as the company threatened site closures and demanded 10 per cent wage cuts, December 9, 2024

Volkswagen employees in Germany rally to warn of a strike as the company threatened site closures and demanded 10 per cent wage cuts, December 9, 2024

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes his seat for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on January 15

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes his seat for the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin on January 15

Underscoring Germany’s economic woes, workers at Volkswagen factories across the country began strikes last month after the manufacturer aired calls for lower wages and threatened to close factories.

It is the first time the company has suggested it could close factories in Germany in its 87-year history, illustrating a wider trend in Europe of stiff competition from foreign producers, high production costs and a slow uptake of electric vehicles supported by government initiatives.

‘Germany is experiencing the longest stagnation of its postwar history by far,’ Ifo economist Timo Wollmershäuser told the FT.

Germany will hope the result of its early election next month may yield some of the answers.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition government collapsed in November when Scholz fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize the economy.

Friedrich Merz, his likely successor, with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union, has campaigned on a promise of cutting red tape and slimming benefits for those out of work.

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