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German court rules social-welfare policies unconstitutional
Feb 9, 2010, 9:56 GMT
Karlsruhe, Germany - Germany's top court ruled Tuesday that elements of social welfare legislation are unconstitutional and gave the government till the end of this year to revise handouts for children.
Out of a population of 80 million, more than 6.5 million people in Germany live on benefits, not counting retirees, students or people between jobs.
Three parents had sued the government, saying they needed more money to bring up their children.
The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said the way amounts for children was assessed was not transparent enough, but it did not say whether the rates were too low. It told Berlin to devise new rules by December 31.
Currently, the welfare handout per child to the parents is between 60 to 80 per cent of the adult rate, depending on the child's age.
According to the court's past rulings, welfare is a right because the state must ensure that the entire population has the means to live in dignity. Parents went to court, saying they needed money to hire tutors because their children were getting poor marks at school.
The court ruled that parents could file applications immediately to meet such 'special needs.' Welfare experts predicted huge numbers of such claims in the months ahead, straining Germany's welfare bureaucracy.
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