Overview
- The new Grundsicherung took effect on July 1, 2026, reviving tougher job‑search duties, speeding up sanctions for missed Jobcenter appointments, and prioritizing placement into work over training.
- A Bundestag and Bundesrat law passed in mid‑July aims to stabilize health funds by cutting and capping some services including psychotherapy budgets and changing payments, and it drew sharp public and medical criticism.
- Krankenkassen leaders and doctors accused the government of shifting the state’s share of costs for Grundsicherung recipients onto insured contributors, a charge Health Minister Nina Warken acknowledged but said steps were being taken to address.
- Protests, protests at Jobcenters, and a ZDF Politbarometer poll from July 14–16 show broad public disapproval of the reforms with 81 percent saying burdens are unfairly distributed, while regional politicians and social groups promise legal and parliamentary challenges.
- The changes build on decades of welfare reform from Hartz IV to Bürgergeld and reflect a fiscal push to reduce benefit dependency, but experts warn the measures may worsen poverty, strain mental‑health care, and push more people into housing insecurity.