Minimum income issue

“Profession parents”: Fierce ÖVP campaign launched

The ÖVP is keeping the issue of minimum income simmering in the current intensive election campaign.

(Bild: Roland Muehlanger)

The ÖVP is campaigning fiercely against alleged red plans regarding minimum income. The SPÖ wants to extend the controversial Viennese model to the whole of Austria, warns General Secretary Christian Stocker. This seems to "turn parents into a profession". An "unspeakable campaign", according to the SPÖ.

A thorn in the side of the ÖVP is that the same amount of support is granted for every child. This is the case in Vienna. Although the regulation has been in place for years, the payments to a Syrian family are currently being discussed. This family receives 4600 euros in minimum benefits and more than 6000 euros net per month with additional transfer payments, as Stocker explained on Wednesday.

"A lot of things have gotten out of hand"
"The example from Vienna shows that many things have gotten out of hand," said the Black Secretary General. Hardly anyone who works full-time earns that much. The social system is there for those who cannot work or are permanently dependent on help, but the SPÖ is planning to implement the model from Vienna throughout Austria.

ÖVP "General" Stocker (right) takes aim at SPÖ leader Babler.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, APA)

This is the starting point for the current ÖVP campaign, which is aimed directly at SPÖ leader Andreas Babler. "6800 euros in social welfare without working. Is that fair, Mr. Babler?" is one slogan. Another complains that the SPÖ does not want to reward performance, but rather punish it.

ÖVP: Full-time bonus and decreasing child allowances
The ÖVP is taking the opposite approach, Stocker asserted. He referred to proposals such as the full-time bonus. In terms of social benefits for children, he cited the model from Upper Austria, among others. There, subsidies are reduced for multi-child families.

Shortly after Stocker's all-round attack, the Viennese ÖVP also left no good hair on the minimum income in the federal capital. This is a "fatal social magnet", according to the city's black party. 66 percent of all domestic minimum income recipients live in Vienna, 60 percent of whom are not Austrian citizens.

SPÖ: "Unbeatable in terms of perfidy"
Vienna's SPÖ party leader Josef Taucher promised in a reaction that there would be no "social cuts" in Vienna: "We stand side by side with the people." Taucher called for an increase in AMS funding and stated: "Solidarity is not a one-way street. Those who exploit our system will be sanctioned. Everyone else should be given real opportunities and prospects for a good future and a self-determined life."

SPÖ Federal Managing Director Klaus Seltenheim spoke of an "unspeakable campaign" that "cannot be surpassed in infamy". "Stocker, who earns more than 22,000 euros per month as ÖVP salary emperor, has no empathy and no decency."