It’s winter in Berlin when a young man asks Helena Steinhaus, 32, for help. He is not 25 years old, sits in his cold flat and hungry. “He was very thin and emaciated. He drank vegetable broth for breakfast, ”she recalls. He didn’t have the money to buy a reasonable meal.
The reason: shortly before, the job center canceled its claim to Hartz IV. Because he had not fulfilled his duties twice, neither standard rate nor rent are transferred. The young man is ashamed to go to the blackboard. “Unfortunately, he didn’t have good starting conditions in life,” she reports.
Steinhaus is committed to sanctioned Hartz IV recipients
Steinhaus has seen plenty of stories like this in recent years. But the fate of the young man is one that has particularly affected her. It is only an example of what applies to many of Steinaus’ protégés: Hartz IV is a vicious cycle. Those who grow up with it will have a hard time getting out of poverty. The young activist sees and experiences this every day.
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Steinhaus says: People who live on basic social security in Germany have a hard enough life. Therefore, she considers cuts in the standard rate to be fundamentally wrong and has been taking care of people affected by sanctions from the job center since 2015.
Because even if the Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment has severely restricted previous sanctions practice in dealing with Hartz IV recipients in the past year and cuts of 60 percent or even the complete cessation of benefits are no longer possible, the sanctions are in their eyes of existence. They drive those affected into misery.
100 euros in the Corona crisis to families with Hartz IV
Therefore, as the founder of the “Sanctions-Free” association, she and her team take legal action against the cuts. And also pays Hartz IV recipients money so that they can make ends meet despite the financial restrictions. Steinhaus takes the funds to close the financial gap from the solidarity pot of the association. She collects donations for him. Around 4,000 euros are raised each month.
With the onset of the Corona crisis, however, this money was left over. Because the job centers had to close to the public, the sanctions were temporarily suspended. Steinhaus nevertheless saw a need to help Hartz IV recipients financially. An idea came to her: Instead of putting the donation money on the high edge, she paid Hartz IV families once according to a random selection principle 100 euros. Aid was given to 230 households. She gave away a total of 23,000 euros.
Hartz IV recipients suffer particularly from the corona crisis
The job centers did not count the donation against the standard rate. “The blackboard paragraph in the Social Code authorizes associations of the free welfare service to pay out money to needy people as long as the amount is reasonable,” explains Steinhaus. In the end, the amount only compensated for the additional costs that Hartz IV recipients should have had to pay, especially during the high phase of the lockdown.
Families in particular, according to the 32-year-old, were no longer able to get by with their money in the back and in the front: Because blackboards increasingly had to close due to corona and cheap groceries were more difficult to get in supermarkets due to hamster purchases or delivery bottlenecks, they could hardly pay for their weekly shopping. In addition, there were additional costs for masks, disinfectants, but also for food that is normally taken over by schools and daycare centers. At the same time there was a lack of tablets and laptops so that children of parents with basic security can take part in digital lessons.
Job centers have gradually resumed sanctions
“This constant shortage of money, which was exacerbated by the corona crisis, also leads to exclusion. Many people who live on Hartz IV withdraw from social life out of shame, ”says Steinhaus. She had this experience herself.
Her mother was an educator for years, then she slipped into Hartz IV. Steinhaus was 17 at the time. And when the 32-year-old found no job even a few years later after studying cultural studies, she also had to bridge the time with government aid. This is why she knows that Hartz IV recipients have to struggle in everyday life, but the challenges have grown again with the pandemic. However, the likelihood of reintegration into the labor market has decreased further.
In their view, the crisis is far from over. Nevertheless, the temporary rest of the job center for Hartz IV recipients is over. The benefit cuts were gradually reintroduced in early July. Therefore, with “Sanction-Free”, the first cases are on the table again.
In the course of this, the association has ended its campaign of one-off payments to families, because the solidarity pot must be used again for what it is actually intended to: sanctions from the job center.
In view of the increased additional costs, this seems more important than ever. After a cut, savings always have to be made where it really hurts. For example with a full breakfast, which then sometimes has to be replaced by vegetable broth.
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