The German non-governmental organization Kinderschutzbund warned Monday that it expects a «considerable» growth in child poverty in Germany next year due to rising commodity and energy prices because of the war in Ukraine.
The agency’s president, Heinz Hilgers, has pointed out that child poverty has been growing in Germany for years and is now on the rise due to the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine. «Inflation especially affects families with little money. Child poverty will increase considerably next year,» he said.
Thus, Hilgers has pointed out in declarations to the newspapers ‘Stuttgarter Zeitung’ and ‘Stuttgarter Nachrichten’ that families with children would not be able to get by with the income from the so-called citizen’s income the new German unemployment benefit that was recently increased. In this regard, he stressed that the increase comes too late and is being swallowed up by inflation.
With regard to low-income people, the president of Kinderschutzbund explained that the increase in the minimum wage means that in difficult times, the financial dislocation for low-income people is not so terrible, as reported by the German news agency DPA.
Hilgers has also defended the need to increase the minimum wage to thirteen or fourteen euros per hour – at present it is twelve euros per hour – and has argued that «this would help fewer families to fall into poverty». He also asked for more immediate aid for children in the coming year.
Finally, the president of the NGO pointed out that politicians cannot «leave families in need to their fate» and stressed the need for the government coalition’s plans for a basic child benefit to be implemented quickly.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
