No benefits for stay-at-home parents

Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled early in the week that a benefit for parents who stay home to look after their small children is illegal, dealing a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian sister party which championed the policy.

More than 455,000 parents, mostly women, who care for their one- or two-year old children at home claim the “hearth bonus,” worth 150 euros per child per month. It was introduced two years ago under Merkel’s previous coalition with the Free Democrats.

The parties in Merkel’s current right-left coalition are already bickering about how to replace the benefit, which the ruling forces the government to abolish.

It is the second setback within two months for Bavaria’s Christian Social Union after the European Commission raised objections to plans to charge foreign drivers for using Germany’s Autobahn motorways which the party had advocated.

The Christian Social Union, which has also held up plans to build a much-needed high-voltage power grid due to local concerns, is struggling to get its voice heard in a coalition with Merkel’s bigger Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats.

The predominantly Catholic Christian Social Union had pushed for the “hearth bonus” after Germany increased funding for childcare places and introduced more generous maternity and paternity leave.

Christian Social Union chief Horst Seehofer vowed early in the week to continue with the benefit in the affluent southern state.

“In Bavaria, in any case, we will still have the benefit for parents who stay at home,” he said, demanding that Berlin make available the required funding.

The government had earmarked 900 million euros for the benefit in this year’s budget.

In the case, brought by the northern city of Hamburg, the court ruled that the federal government does not have the authority to pass a law on the benefit but that it should rather be a matter for Germany’s 16 states.

The Social Democrats, which had always opposed the benefit, want to redirect the money into kindergartens.

The benefit removes any incentive for women with small children to go to work, said Malu Dreyer, the Social Democrats premier of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

“I welcome the court’s decision. It is clear that the money saved should be invested in expanding and improving the quality of day care for children,” she added.

— Reuters