Aid Organizations Warn: Social Network in Danger
Political debates, such as those to stimulate the economy and the labor market, indicated a further deterioration of services. Therefore, a nationwide uniform social assistance is needed.
"Social assistance no longer secures the minimum," said the director of Diakonie, Anna-Katharina Moser. The measure does not have minimum rates for securing existence; rather, it prescribes maximum rates and is thus "open-ended downwards." A demand from the aid organizations for a comprehensive reform of social assistance is therefore to regulate the service in a needs-oriented and nationwide uniform manner and also to define minimum rates - for example, oriented towards the risk of poverty.
According to Moser, the share of social assistance in the public political debate is also completely overestimated. The budget cannot be balanced with savings in social benefits. The whole debate is therefore "unserious," according to the Diakonie director. "The discussions really alarm us deeply," said Anna Parr, Secretary General of Caritas. She sees the reduction of family allowance as "nothing more than a direct attack on the subsistence level of children and young people."
Social Safety Net in Danger: Impact on Children
Erich Fenninger from Volkshilfe drew attention to the impact of cuts on the youngest. "Poverty should and must be fought, especially among children," he emphasized. Therefore, a separate basic child security is needed, as they should not be considered "appendages of their parents." Fenninger also warned of another impact of the political debate: "We do not want an Austria of dehumanization, where people are constructed as enemy images."
The three aid organizations primarily addressed their demands to the federal government, and their representatives did not want to openly comment on measures such as those in the Vienna minimum security. They are not currently directly involved in the political debate, it was said. However, they are sure of one thing, according to Parr: "A reform of social assistance must not lead to new poverty."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.