The EU/UK are cutting social programs in half?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Socialism always works until the bills come due and there are no more people to mug for taxes.

My one friend from college is a dual citizen from Sweden. He moved over there and basically had zero job and took 10 years to complete a free masters degree. Sweden was giving him thousands of dollars per month because he was a ‘student’ even though he was only taking one class a semester. He got so much free money he had enough to travel all over Europe for years and never had to work for a living. Justvyears and years and years of gaming the system for free money. It’s really not uncommon for losers all through their 20s and 30s to never work and live off the govt teat. Europe is a loser continent full of lazy bums with their hands out for govt freebies.

Oh that must be why we had the 2008 recession. And the 1929 stock market crash. Because we are a socialist country.

Must say though that we have the worst social safety net of any socialist country I can think of.

[Anonymous]

It’s all demographics, people. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too many people on that bandwagon, economy in poor shape due to sanctioned energy, it’s going to get worse. Just not enough resources and too many recipients

Something like 70% of Germany women only were able to work part-time which sounds great until you realize the state was paying for 70% of women.

Wow great insight Einstein. Please share your source for that factoid.

[Anonymous]

I’ve said this before. You can have a social safety net, or you can have open borders. Not both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Socialism always works until the bills come due and there are no more people to mug for taxes.

My one friend from college is a dual citizen from Sweden. He moved over there and basically had zero job and took 10 years to complete a free masters degree. Sweden was giving him thousands of dollars per month because he was a ‘student’ even though he was only taking one class a semester. He got so much free money he had enough to travel all over Europe for years and never had to work for a living. Justvyears and years and years of gaming the system for free money. It’s really not uncommon for losers all through their 20s and 30s to never work and live off the govt teat. Europe is a loser continent full of lazy bums with their hands out for govt freebies.

Oh that must be why we had the 2008 recession. And the 1929 stock market crash. Because we are a socialist country.

Must say though that we have the worst social safety net of any socialist country I can think of.

Is Europe in recession or just tired of paying for benefits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve said this before. You can have a social safety net, or you can have open borders. Not both.

Neither. Its interesting that immigrants received the allowances, parent and child, but what's more interesting is that the program is ostenibly new.

They started the year Obama was elected. In his last year in office the parental allowance was changed so that both parents could take it simultaneously, instead of consecutively.

From 1 January 2015 onwards, a child’s mother and father may claim parental allowance in this form as "basic parental allowance" (Basiselterngeld) for a period of up to 14 months.

Suddenly...its being killed.

[Anonymous]

I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

[Anonymous]

There's a new case up too

https://www.hcamag.com/ca/specialization/employment-law/was-it-discrimination-worker-questions-dismissal-after-taking-maternity-leave/470788

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

Perhaps you could lay it out for those of us us who know nothing about this. Are you saying that anyone who takes the parental bonus does no work at all (not even part time), that the bonus is for 12 months, and that it is equal to their entire annual salary? I am quite sceptical of this but happy to be proven wrong if you can provide the links to facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

Surely there must be some better solution between what you describe and what we have—or more specifically, don’t have—here in the US. When I had my only child, I took 3 months of leave which was a combination of accrued sick and vacation time. And I was lucky to have accrued that time since I was at the job over a decade. Another woman I worked with who had less tenure and a less well paid position took two weeks. There must be some happy medium between ZERO “parental bonus” in the US and what Germany offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

Perhaps you could lay it out for those of us us who know nothing about this. Are you saying that anyone who takes the parental bonus does no work at all (not even part time), that the bonus is for 12 months, and that it is equal to their entire annual salary? I am quite sceptical of this but happy to be proven wrong if you can provide the links to facts.

The parental payment is 14 months and up to 80% of their salary but you're welcome to look up Bundestag legislation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

Surely there must be some better solution between what you describe and what we have—or more specifically, don’t have—here in the US. When I had my only child, I took 3 months of leave which was a combination of accrued sick and vacation time. And I was lucky to have accrued that time since I was at the job over a decade. Another woman I worked with who had less tenure and a less well paid position took two weeks. There must be some happy medium between ZERO “parental bonus” in the US and what Germany offers.

2 weeks of parental payments could work. But Germany hasn't yet weeded down the MONTHS the parents are taking, just the cost associated. They might end up like the UK? where its something like 6-7 weeks at full cost (so 80% of the paycheck) and after that you get $100 and that's it. You can stay out up to a year though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The amount of paid leave in many of the EU countries is not sustainable.

Germany also supports a lot of former East Germans who don't have the educational level of West Germany.

Its been 30 years. The generation born the year of the Berlin Wall falling should have nearly 5-7 years of work experience postgraduate now.

Their parents are low level laborers. Many speak limited German.

The acquisition of Eastern Germany was at a very large long term financial cost to Western Germany.

Source? That's a pretty extraordinary claim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know why they're weeding it down.

In 2015, 880K women took the parental bonus. 170K men

In 2022, 1.4 million women took the parental bonus. 400K men.

Germany has a population of 50 million people between the ages of 20 and 66 today. So basically...4% of their population is on permanent vacation at a cost of 5.6 billion euros year-round (estimating a 40K salary per parent).

Perhaps you could lay it out for those of us us who know nothing about this. Are you saying that anyone who takes the parental bonus does no work at all (not even part time), that the bonus is for 12 months, and that it is equal to their entire annual salary? I am quite sceptical of this but happy to be proven wrong if you can provide the links to facts.

The parental payment is 14 months and up to 80% of their salary but you're welcome to look up Bundestag legislation.

300-1800 euros per month. You can’t be bothered to research this properly.

[Anonymous]

I don't claim to understand what is going on in Germany, but my young relatives (with small children) are becoming extremely frustrated. They claim that the income thresholds have been cut and now if one parent makes €40k/year, they can't get the parental subsidies beyond the €250/month kindergeld payment. They said that if the working parent just quit his job, he'd make more in welfare payments than the €40k, but at that salary they won't provide any extra payments. They blame this on the money spent on the Ukraine war, and they are also frustrated by the perception that refugees are getting more generous government support than native German families. My family member, a young father, said he's so frustrated he's planning to vote for AfD. The CDU/CSU has lost a lot of credibility with German voters because they were the conservative choice, but they were hugely pro-immigration and that hasn't played well.