Doug wrote:
> isn't Merkel reversing parts of Hartz IV? Or is the
FT > lying to me?
I don't read the FT, so you'll have to post what you are referring to.
To repeat again, the grand coalition, led by Merkel, is seriously considering a proposal initiated by Kurt Beck to prolong the period in which older workers (over the age of 45, I believe) can receive Arbeitslosengeld I.
Beck's proposal was a response in part to the declining political support for the SPD. And it is completely understandable. It was rather idiotic for the SPD to cut the period of drawing on Arbeitslosengeld I in the first place. What Red-Green did with the Hartz reforms was basically to force skilled workers to sink to the level of ALG II recipients after 18 months of ALG I (which is oriented to the last wage level). The SPD shit all over their own base with those measures. Now they are undertaking some mild corrections. But the great unwashed who come under ALG II (what used to be called Sozialhilfe) are untouched by all of this.
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