Municipal social expenditure

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In terms of financial statistics, the tasks of product area 3 “Youth and Social Affairs” are recorded under communal social expenditure . Under federal law, these tasks are based on SGB ​​II (basic security for job seekers), SGB ​​VIII (child and youth welfare) and SGB ​​XII ( social welfare ). The Asylum Seekers Benefits Act was removed from social assistance in 1993. Municipal social spending has grown over the years and covers a broad spectrum. Social assistance, in particular, goes back a long way in communal history. The nature of the benefits varies: some are cash benefits, others are infrastructure, benefits in kind or comparable services. In addition to the SGB, there is room for maneuver under state law and local policy, which leads to different sponsorships, task interpretations and costs. The service catalog to be borne by the municipalities varies from country to country. Measured by the degree of municipalization according to subsidy needs, the municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse have the highest share of social expenditure with 85%, while those in Thuringia have the lowest with 38%.

Carriers in the countries

The colloquial term commune includes four types in the area of ​​social tasks, which are claimed differently in the individual services as a result of federal and state regulations: district-belonging community , district-free city , district , higher municipal association . The districts and independent cities are basically the local carriers of social tasks. The municipalities belonging to the district carry the day-care center according to SGB VIII. However, they finance the district 's other social expenditure through the district levy . The greatest differences in the support structures are with regard to care assistance and integration assistance according to SGB XII. In four federal states, higher municipal associations are entrusted with these tasks ( North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , Saxony , Bavaria ). In other Länder, these tasks are carried out directly by the Länder (e.g. Saxony-Anhalt and Saarland) .

relevance

Social spending gains local political relevance from the high level of spending, which often leads to budget problems, especially in financially weak municipalities. According to the Federal Statistical Office, gross expenditure on youth and social affairs rose by 59% nationwide between 2003 and 2013, measured by the results of the invoices, tying up around 40% of municipal budgets. Although there is a municipal financial equalization scheme in all federal states , which reimburses part of the expenditure in different procedures , it is hardly possible to avoid the displacement of other expenditure, especially in the area of investment .

Current debate

The localization of social tasks with the municipalities and the lack of connectivity principle of the federal government are considered to be a major weakness of the federal financial constitution . For decades there has been a demand that the federal government should finance self-justified social expenditure. The thesis that the municipalities should be relieved of social expenditure through the federal government is shared across all parties. The financial constitution, which prohibits direct transfers, stands in the way of this. Nevertheless, various reliefs have been intended by the federal government since 2005 (e.g. costs of accommodation and heating , day-care center expansion, asylum). In addition, the interests of the federal states and municipalities are controversial with regard to the starting points for relief and its consequences. In the coalition agreement of the 18th legislative period , relief from the federal government to the municipalities from 2018 onwards is agreed; however, without specification. In view of the refugee crisis in Germany from 2015 onwards , the debate is currently focusing on asylum costs.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus-Jürgen Duschk, Antje Lemmer: Results of the social welfare statistics 2011. In: Wirtschaft und Statistik , March 2013, Federal Statistical Office, p. 211
  2. ^ Felix Anton, Florian Boettcher, Ronny Freier, Benjamin Holler, René Geißler: Kommunaler Finanzreport. Gütersloh 2015, p. 18ff
  3. ↑ René Geißler: The municipal social expenditure in the financial statistics . In: Zeitschrift für Kommunalfinanzen , No. 10/2015. P. 220
  4. ↑ Hans-Günter Henneke: Federal tasks and financial relationships from 2020 . Writings of the German District Assembly. Berlin 2014, pp. 255ff
  5. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Results of the calculations for the municipal core budgets. Technical series 14, series 3.3, table 1.1, Wiesbaden 2014
  6. ^ Felix Anton, René Geissler, Ronny Freier, Philipp Schrauth: Large regional disparities in municipal investments . In: DIW weekly report , No. 43/2015. P. 1038f
  7. ^ Friedrich Schoch, Joachim Wieland: Financing responsibility for legislatively induced municipal tasks. Baden-Baden 1995.
  8. ↑ The federal government supports municipalities in a variety of ways . Website of the Federal Ministry of Finance. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  9. ^ A way out of the social cost trap website of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. Retrieved April 28, 2016.