Volkshilfe Demands Quick Implementation of Child Basic Security
According to Volkshilfe Director Erich Fenninger, the child basic security should be introduced as early as January 1, 2027. Fenninger suggests that the Ministry of Social Affairs should take the lead role.
Volkshilfe: Good Cooperation on Child Basic Security is Crucial
Recently, there has been confusion about the responsibility for the child basic security planned according to the government program. While Minister of Social Affairs Korinna Schumann (SPÖ) stated in interviews that the project falls under the Ministry of Family Affairs, Minister of Family Affairs Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) referred to the Ministry of Social Affairs. Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler (SPÖ) then announced a quick clarification of responsibility in the "Presse am Sonntag". It is crucial that the three governing parties work well together, Fenninger told the APA, but at the same time advocates for the lead to be located in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor. Because knowledge has already been built up there in recent years, and it is responsible for social assistance and the labor market service (AMS), which is expected to play a central role in social assistance in the future, argues the Volkshilfe Director. However, there should be close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Family Affairs.
Implementation Study on Child Basic Security Should Be Quickly Put on Track
A start of the child basic security could succeed by 2027 if the implementation study stipulated in the government program is quickly put on track, Fenninger urges for speed. Results could then be available by the end of the year, with preparations for the rollout starting in 2026. "An introduction on January 1, 2027 is ambitious, but not unrealistic," said the Volkshilfe Director. The declared goal of the three-party coalition is to halve child poverty by 2030. This is to be achieved with a child basic security, but the government program remained vague on its implementation. There is talk of two pillars: in addition to additional benefits such as free meals in educational institutions, existing transfer payments should be improved. Ways to separate children as an independent target group from social assistance should be examined in a cross-departmental implementation study.
(APA/Red)
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