Kita zu: Longer wage replacement planned

Carola Felchner is a freelance writer in the medical department and a certified training and nutrition advisor. She worked for various specialist magazines and online portals before becoming a freelance journalist in 2015. Before starting her internship, she studied translation and interpreting in Kempten and Munich.

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Daycare centers and schools are no longer completely closed, but are in emergency mode in most federal states. Parents who are therefore unable to work should now receive wage compensation for a longer period of time.

Parents should be able to receive up to 20 weeks of wage replacement if they have to look after their children at home at daycare centers and schools due to corona restrictions. Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" that the "subordinate continued wage payment" would be extended to up to ten weeks for each parent and up to 20 weeks for single parents. "That gives the necessary security in uncertain situations." So far, the compensation is limited to six weeks.

Big burden, special support

A corresponding amendment from the Ministry of Health should be decided by the cabinet this Wednesday, it said in the report, citing ministry information. "Working parents are currently carrying a great burden. As long as kindergartens and schools are not reliably open to everyone again, many of them need our special support," said Spahn.

Anyone who cannot work in the Corona crisis because of looking after small children and therefore does not earn any money has so far received 67 percent of the net income as compensation for a maximum of six weeks and a maximum of 2016 euros per month. The employer pays the money and can have it reimbursed by the authorities.

However, because daycare centers and schools will probably not be able to go into regular operation for a long time, an extension is now being sought. Compensation is regulated in the Infection Protection Act. It is not yet clear how many parents have made use of the service in total. The Federal Ministry of Social Affairs pointed out on Monday that this was the responsibility of the federal states.

Wage replacement as an "interim solution"

Family Minister Franziska Giffey has described the expansion of the wage replacement for parents because of the Corona-related daycare and school restrictions as a "transitional solution". At the same time, further responsible steps would have to be taken for more daycare openings, as is already happening in many federal states, she said on Wednesday in Berlin.

Schools and daycare centers across Germany were closed for weeks due to the corona pandemic. School operations have been gradually resumed since the end of April. Students are taught alternately at school and at home and are divided into smaller groups in order to adhere to the rules of distance. In the meantime, emergency care is being expanded in the daycare centers. When they go back to normal operation, the federal states themselves decide, as well as how to proceed at the schools. (caf / dpa)

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