Education savings
Saving for education is saving for a specific purpose . It can be subsidized by the state , for example in the form of a savings allowance , as is known from the Fifth Capital Building Act ( education bonus ). The idea of saving for education aims at the possibility of building up liquidity over a period of time so that it is available when an educational offer is taken up. There are basically two types of educational savings:
- Education savings for initial training such as studies . Attractive offers should be developed here so that parents, relatives and friends save for a person during their childhood. Savings and interest would then be available to the young adult, for example to finance living costs or tuition fees during his studies. Some banks offer such products, but we cannot speak of a nationwide distribution.
- Education savings for further education / lifelong learning. This is about saving up to finance your own further education . From this - depending on the model - participation fees, external overnight stays, external meal costs, childcare costs etc. can be saved over a longer period of time.
criticism
The criticism of educational savings aims at the problem that a certain ability to save, i.e. H. a certain income or assets must be available and therefore certain groups of people who cannot save are not available. These people cannot take part in education / training if there are no other financing instruments (such as BAföG ). Furthermore, the criticism is aimed at the fact that the funded old-age provision already exists as a saving motive and thus competition between these saving motives arises, which should be avoided. The education and science union is therefore calling for an adult BAföG instead of saving for education.
Discussion and implementation in Germany
→ see: education bonus
The report by Prof. Rürup and Anabell Kohlmeier
The report explains why the financing of further training is also a public task. The report by Rürup and Kohlmeier points primarily to the economically positive effects. Due to the demographic development, Germany is more dependent than ever on skilled workers, since only higher productivity can secure economic growth in times of a declining working population. This also explicitly includes well-qualified older employees. Therefore the state and the individual have an obligation to participate in the financing of further training. This framework is well represented by the report of the FiBS - Research Institute for Educational and Social Economics.
FiBS report
In the FiBS report, it is pointed out that the model presented represents a severe limitation due to the demand for budget neutrality in the coalition agreement and that the report presented cannot do enough for the unemployed, for example. Nevertheless, the three-pillar model is a (first) step; in particular, it does not necessarily require a (high) ability to save on the part of the individual and is therefore also accessible to less well-off people.
The three-pillar model of FiBS
The Research Institute for Educational and Social Economics has worked out a concrete model on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which should be the basis for legal anchoring. The authors Dieter Dohmen, Vera de Hesselle and Klemens Himpele propose a three-pillar model, whereby the pillars represent the personal contribution of the individual and the roof represents state co-financing.
First pillar: personal income and assets
The personal contribution can - as financially possible - be financed from your own income and assets.
Second pillar: Non-harmful withdrawals from the Fifth Capital Formation Act
The authors propose that people who save under the Fifth Capital Formation Act can withdraw the money saved there before the expiry of the blocking period without damaging them, provided that paid professional training is used to finance participation . This is intended to enable people with lower incomes to access available liquidity.
Third pillar: training loans
In particular, very cost-intensive measures (such as a postgraduate course) can mean that the available liquidity is insufficient. Therefore, a low-interest loan should be provided. The prerequisite is that no credit check can be carried out, otherwise precisely those who would most need the money in the case of further training will not get a loan.
The roof: tax regulations and training bonuses
Even today, under certain conditions, expenses for professional development can be claimed as business expenses . However, only those who first pay taxes benefit from this (the higher the marginal tax rate , the higher the tax savings) and whose income- related expenses exceeded the employee lump sum of € 1000 per year. The FiBS therefore proposes a further training bonus of € 500. This should be granted if
- it concerns the participation fees for a professional training measure ,
- the person concerned does not have more than € 25,600 (or € 51,200 in the case of jointly assessed persons) taxable income,
- half of the costs are borne by yourself.
In addition, there is a minimum limit of € 30, i.e. H. the first € 30 must always be worn individually. Example: Participation fee of € 300: The first € 30 must be paid by the person taking the training. Half of the remaining € 270 can be financed by the further training bonus, so that the individual pays € 165 themselves, the state € 135.
literature
- Education saving: an expert opinion . On behalf of d. Federal Minister for Education u. Knowledge under d. Scientific director of Achim Zink. Domus-Verlag, Bonn 1986, ISBN 3-87169-321-9 .
- Further education - (not) a question of age? Demographic development and lifelong learning . Documentation of the annual congress of the Concerted Action Further Education eV (KAW) on May 11, 2006 in Berlin. KAW, Bonn July 2006 ( netzwerk-weiterbildung.info [PDF; accessed on July 7, 2011]).
Web links and sources
- Final report of the expert commission on financing lifelong learning as PDF (1.50 MB)
- The reports published by the BMBF by Rürup / Kohlmeier and Dohmen / de Hesselle / Himpele as PDF (4.98 MB)
- Short version of the study as PDF (153 kB)
- Homepage of the BMBF
- Homepage of the chair of Prof. Dr. de Hesselle at the Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences
- Homepage of FiBS - Research Institute for Educational and Social Economics
- Coalition agreement between CDU / CSU and SPD ( Memento from November 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (1.96 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Education union proposes adult BAföG ( memento of the original from October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
