Family with 7 children

Can social welfare amount to 4600 euros a month?

Time and again, heated debates about social welfare in Austria

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl, thinkstockphotos.de, krone.at-Grafik)

Should a family of nine from Syria receive 4600 euros a month in social welfare? Since a case like this became public in Vienna, this question has been hotly debated and has fueled the envy debate. AMS boss Johannes Kopf shows ways - for example with benefits in kind - how social welfare could be made fairer.  

It sounds like the tip of the iceberg in the refugee debate. When a Syrian family of nine wanted to rent a new apartment and had to provide proof of income, the landlord was almost blindsided, reported the free newspaper "Heute". The refugee family only receives 4600 euros a month in social welfare from the City of Vienna.

How is the sum made up?

• The two adults - the migrant couple has seven children - receive 809.09 euros per month.
• Plus a supplement of 51.01 euros each, as minors live in the household.
• There are also 312.08 euros each for six children - one of whom is not eligible.
• There is also a rent allowance of 995.46 euros.

FPÖ Vienna: "Milk and honey flow in Vienna"
 The FPÖ reflexively took up the issue. The leader of the Freedom Party in Vienna, Dominik Nepp, described Vienna's mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) as a "European asylum seeker lure", because "nowhere in the world does milk and honey flow for people from all over the world to such an extent as in Vienna".

Angered: Vienna's FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp

(Bild: Zwefo)

In Austria, an income of more than 4000 euros net falls under high earners. A fact that is fueling the envy debate. For AMS boss Kopf, the debate is therefore a very serious one. Because every social system is based on solidarity.

"That's the difference to the labor market. In no job in the world do you get paid more if you have more children. This means that families with many children - regardless of whether they are nationals or foreigners - receive more social welfare than they can earn. But if there is no solidarity, the system can collapse," warns Kopf. He calls on politicians to finally turn a few screws so that Vienna is no longer exposed to the overload of refugees and envy debates do not arise in the first place.

AMS boss Johannes Kopf points out ways to end the envy debate about high welfare benefits.

(Bild: APA/EVA MANHART)

Point one: transfer benefits in kind instead of money
The optically high transfer sums, especially for large families, could be replaced by benefits in kind by no longer paying out the supplement that is currently granted per child, but instead covering the same amount of rental costs, which would be transferred directly to the landlord by the paying body. Shopping vouchers would also be conceivable.

Kopf also proposes that the amount due to a family should be paid out to the mother and father in equal shares. "This also has the effect that the family learns straight away that there is equality between men and women in Austria," says Kopf. 

Point two: uniform social system
Vienna is almost suffocating under the burden of the influx of refugees. The reason for this lies in the different social systems in Austria, which leads to an imbalance. "That makes no sense," says Kopf. In the federal states, asylum seekers are kicked out of their accommodation on the day they are granted asylum.

They then receive 430 euros per person in one province and cannot find affordable accommodation. "So they go to Vienna, find a bed for 300 euros in some apartment where there are already three people, and 1100 euros in minimum benefits. Significantly more than in Lower Austria, for example," explains Kopf. This is why we finally need a uniform social system and compulsory residence.

Almost every fourth unemployed person in Vienna is a refugee
The unemployment figures reflect just how great the burden is for Vienna. "There are several hundred refugees looking for work in Salzburg, Tyrol and Carinthia. There are 2000 in Upper Austria and 30,000 in Vienna. In Vienna, we are on the verge of every fourth unemployed person being a refugee. Not a migrant, not a foreigner - a refugee," Kopf sounds the alarm.

Point three: Partial crediting of the minimum benefit
In order to provide an incentive to gain a foothold in the labor market, the minimum benefit should not be cut off completely when a father or mother takes a job. At least part of it should continue to be paid out for a certain period of time. "This benefits the state because it increases the incentive to go to work," says Kopf.