Germany has set the line: which Ukrainians will be left without social assistance

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has announced a large-scale reform of the social support system that will affect millions of the country's residents, including Ukrainian refugees. He said this in an interview with the ARD TV channel on 13 July.

The main message of future changes is the tightening of conditions for receiving aid. "People who can work should work," Merz emphasised, specifying that support will remain only for those who really need it. Stricter selection criteria for welfare recipients are expected to be introduced.

Rent control and housing inspections

One of the directions of the reform will be the revision of housing standards for social assistance recipients. There are plans to set maximum allowable rents and to carry out rent checks to eliminate abuse and optimise costs.

Basic income instead of benefits - from 2026

From 2026, Germany will begin a phased transition from the current benefit system to a basic income system. Merz called it a "system change" and expressed confidence that the reform would save billions of euros. "It is possible to save more than one or two billion," he stated. At the same time, the chancellor allowed flexibility in case of economic turmoil:

I would even be prepared to raise rates, for example, in the case of sudden unemployment.

The changes will directly affect the Ukrainian community in Germany, which numbered 1.25 million as of 2024. According to DW, 296 thousand Ukrainians are working, 211 thousand are registered as unemployed, and another 98 thousand are taking integration courses.

Social burden on the budget

In 2024, about 826 thousand working German citizens needed additional payments from the budget, as they could not live on their salaries. The state spent 7 billion euros on payments under the "bürgergeld" system.

Merz emphasised that the aim of the reform is to ensure that aid is targeted and to return the social support system to a sustainable model.

As Socialportal wrote, currently more than 4 million Ukrainians have temporary protection status in the EU. Most have managed to obtain legal status, basic support, access to medical care, education and the labour market. However, life in a foreign land is accompanied by many challenges, and a significant proportion of people still live "between two worlds". What can the state do to bring back its citizens and how they help the country those who have become part of the Ukrainian diaspora abroad. Read the answers to these and other questions in the exclusive mater on Socialportal.

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