© Sandy Schmit
Poverty was the topic of the day in RTL Radio's latest interview with family minister Max Hahn.
In around two months, the national poverty plan will be submitted to the government council to approve new measures, Hahn told RTL on Friday. The government will work on combating poverty on all fronts, proving all fears that the CSV-DP coalition would cut social benefits to be unfounded.
In the latest report from the Chamber of Employees, it was revealed that Luxembourg had a high rate of working poor, with one in seven people at risk of poverty. In addition, one in four children in Luxembourg lives in poverty. In response, Hahn listed the measures the government has taken over the past 22 months, and announced there were further amendments to be made to the poverty plan.
"Of course the action plan will have new measures against poverty"
From 1 January onwards, pensioners with an income of up to €4,200 will benefit from further support in order to afford a room in a care home. The budget for next year has allocated €12 million for the new support, and the relevant draft bill was passed in the Chamber earlier this year.
An increase in the minimum pension, on the other hand, was not considered a way to combat poverty, Hahn explained, as it would benefit people who did not need it. In general, households with pensioners will receive additional support from next year to prevent them from falling below the poverty threshold. However, Hahn did not elaborate on this.
As for families, the government plans to increase child benefit, and will introduce targeted support for families in precarious situations. Again, Hahn did not elaborate on a timeframe.
"Fighting poverty needs more than simply raising minimum wage"
A structural increase in minimum wage, as requested by unions and other employee representatives, is still not an option for the CSV-DP coalition. Hahn said it would not combat poverty and required a different approach. The government wanted to ensure that benefits were allocated to people who really need them, he said, such as the introduction of the automatic housing allowance and energy grants for 11,000 households earlier this year. The introduction of the new social guichet system should improve this, he added.
Judge the government by the action plan
Hahn said the national action plan had been conceived following plenty of discussions with organisations on the ground, as well as people affected by poverty. As a result, the government wanted to let itself be judged by the effectiveness of the plan.
