Al -Jazeera Net Correspondents
Berlin– Displacements sleep in the streets, queues lined up for free foodstuffs, and retirees looking for empty bottles to return them to stores in exchange for cents .. This happens in Germany, the owner of the third largest economy in the world and the first European.
This is a familiar image in most of it not in all German cities, despite the increase in wealth and the high wages in the past few years, statistics indicate that more than 21.3% of the population (equivalent to more than 25.5 million people) live below the poverty line or threatened By social exclusion by 2024.
According to the German Federal Statistical Office, 14.4% of Germany’s population is threatened with poverty, and the person is defined as a poor in the European Union if his income is less than 60% of the average monthly income per person in his country.
In Germany, the person is poor if his income is less than 1,200 euros (1250 dollars) per month and lives alone, or if the income of a family consisting of parents and two children is less than 2410 euros ($ 2510), after taking taxes and social security.
It is important to note that the presence of queues in front of food banks does not necessarily mean a general deterioration in the German economy. Rather, it may indicate a disparity in the distribution of wealth and the presence of groups suffering from economic difficulties. This phenomenon explains the need for social and economic policies that enhance equal opportunities and provide support to needy groups.
Food banks “Tafil”
In recent years, Germany has witnessed an increase in the number of retirees who frequent food banks to obtain foodstuffs, especially after the beginning of the Ukraine war. Manuel Famir, a spokesman for the food bank “Tafel”, says that inflation and high prices made retirement pensions insufficient to cover the basic needs, and that people are facing difficult conditions more than ever.
“Tafel”, through a network of 970 branches across Germany, is working to distribute the donations it gets from major stores and bakeries, however, the Foundation faces difficulty in meeting the increasing demand, forcing it to reduce the amounts of food distributed for each person to ensure the benefit of the largest number It is possible, according to the Foundation’s director, Andreas Stripon.
Poverty indicators in Germany?
The definition of poverty in Germany goes beyond the numbers, to include the quality of life, as the poor often live in inappropriate or small apartments, away from work sites and schools, and Eva Maria Wilscop-Diva, head of the Caritas Foundation, indicates that people who live alone are the most vulnerable to poverty They spend more than half of their income on housing costs.
She added that 70% of people who have suffered poverty during the past five years will continue in this case during the next five years, which reflects the lack of opportunities and the scarcity of adequate wage jobs.
Strong economy and daily suffering
Although Germany is classified as the largest European economy and the third globally, and one of the 20 richest countries in the world, poverty is a clear problem, due to the continuous rise in the costs of living, in exchange for the stability of wages and insufficient pensions.
At the same time, the social system in Germany remains one of the positive points, as it provides the minimum protection, but it is not enough to completely eliminate poverty. “The fight against poverty is a political responsibility and cannot be fully left to charitable organizations such as” Tafel “.
Criticism of the social security system
Although the government raised the value of “citizen allocations” for the unemployed to exceed 500 euros ($ 520) per month, sociologists believe that this amount is too less to secure a decent life, and according to their estimates, the individual needs 650 euros ($ 677) per month To obtain a healthy food, and at the same time, the unemployment rate increased to 6%, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, which increases the challenges facing individuals in Germany.
This is what social welfare organizations refer to the government’s policy in the basic social security system, considering that it does not protect against poverty, stressing that what the government and even political parties provided is nothing more than an electoral program and does not provide radical solutions to the problem of poverty in Germany.
