Preunification
After the war lost by Germany, not just two
geographic region, where created but, two economic systems. West Germany with
Bohn his capital, the British started the development of the car industry, originally
was requested of Major Ivan Hirst to dismantle the VW today located in Lower
Saxony, the dismantle was part of the reparations, in the Russian side all the
heavy manufacture was ship to Russia, depriving eventually East Germany of any
heavy industry (The British interest in Lower Saxony was due: the Royal Family
line is come from Celle, Brunswick and prince electors of Hannover—Hitler being
an Austrian the city of Brunswick given him German citizen). Major Hirst
persuaded the British to produces 20,000 Trucks for the British Military, by
this fact restarted heavy industry in was to be West Germany.
A consequence of the war, the declined of
population in West Germany brought economic immigrants from Spain, Italy and
Turkey. Where in East Germany and more after the build of the wall any contact
with any foreign individual was consider treason with 10 years of incarceration.
Unification
In the unification period produce challenge the
Xenophobic attitude in East Germany because penalty foreign contact in early 1990´s
was manifest in race riots against Vietnamese in Rostock killing 90 asylum seekers,
where the local policy stood still as the immigrants house was burn with their
immigrants occupants. Late 1990´s the unemployment in Germany was 7.7% in the
west and 17% in the east (the average was 10% for Germany), in this period two
different scale payment where in the East the wage was 25% depress compare to
the west and creating an internal immigration, where the male population could
not adapted to the new conditions and 40% of East Germany females move to west,
since they had a better educations, in East many of the male where directed to
manual training skills. The German government invested to east by a solidarity
tax from the west. The unique structure
where elite have table with the syndicates give situation, where after WWII
Harald Quandt (the son of Güther Quandt and Magda Behrend Rietschel (Magda
Marry eventually Goebbles, the Minister propaganda) benefit
from the war profits of his father, in this National socialist period, 50,000
Jews Slave working in their factories. The Quandt invested in 200 Germany
companies and the tradition of the state with private firms, today despite the
European Union ruling not disinvestment, Lower Saxony own VW with Porshe
family.
History
Hartz reforms:
is a set of recommendations submitted by a commission on reforms to the Germany
labor market in 2002 to Socialist Prime Minister Gerhard Schröeder. The
Recommendations were named after the head of the commission, Peter Harz (was the human resources executive at the
German public company (VW), resigned: because corruption bogus real estate deal
with VW, specially Skoda in the Czech Republic; favors to members of the workers
council (Betriebsrat), specially the chairman of the workers council, Klaus
Volker resigned 30 June 2005); the use of prostitutes at the company's
expense in Brazil, sometimes in company-owned apartments and under the
influence of Viagra, which had been prescribed by the company's medical service)
these recommendations went on to become part of the German Government Agenda
2010, under Prime Minister Angela Merkel, the series of reforms, known as Hartz
I - Hartz IV. The committee devised thirteen "innovation modules",
which recommended changes to the German labour market system. These were then
gradually put into practice: The measures of Hartz I - III were undertaken
between January 1, 2003, and 2004, while Hartz IV was implemented on January 1,
2005.
Hartz I:
- The foundation of Staff
Services agencies (Personal-Service-Agenturen or PSAs).
- Support for vocational further
education from the German Federal Labour Agency.
- Subsistence payments by the
Federal Labour Agency.
Hartz II:
- New types of employment,
"Minijob" and "Midijob", with lower or gradually
rising taxes and insurance payments (450 Euros not taxes), most to the
employers offer this type of contract, since the contact does not included
any benefice (vacation time, retirement).
- A grant for entrepreneurs,
known as the "Ich-AG" (Me, Inc.).
- A rise in the number of job
centers.
Hartz III
Hartz III came into effect on January 1, 2004.
This measure was aimed at restructuring and reforming Job Centers, in
preparation to Harz IVthe any welfare recipient, an after 3 years to 1 Euro per
hour job, as force suggestion, if the recipient did not accepted benefice are
cut.
Hartz VI
The fourth stage of the reform was voted in by
the parliament on December 16, 2003 and by July 9, 2004, to take effect by
January 1, 2005.
This part of the reforms brought together the
former unemployment benefits for long-term unemployed and the welfare benefits,
leaving them both at approximately the lower level of the former (social
assistance). The level for a single person was € 374 per month for a single
person. This was subsequently raised to € 382 per month, in 2013. Added to this
is the financial assistance with housing and health care. Couples can receive
benefits for each partner including their children.
Prior to 2005, between 12 and 36 months
(depending upon the claimant's age and work history) of their full unemployment
benefit (60 to 67% of the previous net salary) were followed by the unemployment
assistance, amounting to 53 to 57% of the last net salary. Since 2008, eligibility
for the full unemployment benefit has been restricted to 12 months in general,
15 months for those aged 50 or older, 18 months for those 55 or older and 24
months for those 58 or older.
Whether or not a claimant is eligible for
depends on his or her savings, life insurance and the income of spouse or
partner. If these assets are below a threshold level, a claimant can get money
from the state. The threshold level in July 2008 was €150 for free assets (at
least €3,100) and €250 for fixed retirement assets, both calculated per capita
and lifetime year. Additionally, every employable individual in a
communal household (persons living in and depending on the resources of the
claimant), can have one car worth about €7,500 and a self-used house of 130 square
meters living space (more if there are other people in the common household).
To receive payments, a claimant must agree to a
contract subject to public law. This contract outlines what they are obliged to
do to improve their job situation, and when the state is obliged to help. An
unemployed person may be required to accept any kind of legal job. This
compulsion is restricted by constitutional rights, like freedom of movement,
freedom of family, marriage and human dignity. If taking on a specific placement
is deemed reasonable by the responsible agency, not applying will result in a
reduction or even complete suspension of the appropriate payment.
Under this scheme, the state covers the health
insurance of the unemployed. Until the end of 2010, payments towards the
pension scheme of the claimant were also made. It is possible to earn income
from a job and receive benefits at the same time. Job income is debited from
payments according to a formula that leaves a certain amount of the additional
revenue untouched. These revenues are: a certain amount of savings (which
increases with age); €100 plus 20 percent of the wage up to €800 plus 10% of
the wage up to €1200 (up to €1500 if there are children). This is a sort of
minimum wage for employees without assets, where the minimum wage is not fully
paid by the employer but assured by the state. There are criticisms that this
defies competition and leads to a downward spiral in wages and the loss of
full-time jobs.
The Hartz IV reform merged the federal level unemployment
agency with the local level welfare administration. This facilitated a better,
case-oriented approach to helping unemployed people find work and improve their
situations. The plan's objective is to reduce caseloads from 400 unemployed
persons per agent to not more than 75 (aged 25 or less), or not more than 150
persons over the age of 25.
The Hartz IV reforms continue to attract
criticism in Germany, despite a considerable reduction in short and long term
unemployment. This reduction has led to some claims of success for the Hartz
reforms. Others say the actual unemployment figures are not comparable because
many people work part-time or are not included in the statistics for other
reasons, such as the number of children that live in Hartz IV households, which
has risen to record numbers.
Minimum Wage:
In Germany , there is not minimum wage. Each
work council, or profession negotiate with the syndicates in the profession for
the wage, in the last election the Socialist run on minimum wage across the
border of 8,50 Euros.
Syndicates
In Germany especially in the industry where is a Work
Councils, you cannot get a Job for example VW if you do not belong to this Work
councils. The work councils are run by elections, where any individual can
run, but the left parties (SPD and Left Party) run the more people so the get
more positions. The stewards represent any in the floor to the management, by
locations. In 2011 the Confederation of German Trade Unions represented 6 Million workers and
decline due to Hartz IV (one reason for his implementation).
Poverty in Germany
From 80 Million Germany, 13.5% of the population
“survive” at 12,000 Euros a year and many have the minimal social support, in
other side of the spectrum, the German (In Germany is spread into 13.5% of the
population) (Foerster M and dÉcorle, 2005,. Income distribution and poverty
OECD Countries in the second half 0f 1990´s page 22, figure 6, Eurostart 2013).
The super wealthy is second US (2,060 Families) with 70 Million Euros in
average consisted. Most of the wealth is concentrated in Souther Provinces (the Catholic Provinces), where high end car manufacture, Porche, mercedes and BMW.
Education
Education
has been used by many liberal societies as equalizer of opportunities, needed
to consider the use of gate keepers and standards as way to control, to whom, have
access, is not just education by an opportunity of the access. The German education
is run on the Province level, but in the 10 grade, after test and teachers
recommendation, is separated in 4 groups (in general specially for the Gymnasium, students can not transfer from Province to another Province, sinc eSouther Provinces a base test is Latin or Greek not in the nothern Provices they required English, French and close to the Border with Polan, Polish is an option):
Haupschule: 3 day of practices for a job and
one day of theory in 2000 54.9% of students.
Realschule: 3 days of theory and one practice,
any person have very slim (while theoretical possible) enter a university and
option is Applied Technical Universities, but not a University, in 2000, 34.1%.
Gymnasium: prepare for the abitur (High School Diploma). Depending
in province in Southern part of Germany one of the requirements is Latin or
Greek, the other 2 exams are open. In Northern Provinces, English option,
because need of tutors to able to master Latin, Greek or English, limited
anyone with limited resources access to be prepare for the exam, in 2000 11% sudent polution enter the Gymnasium.
Some of cities have created integrated schools,
so any in these specific tracks can crossover; the integrated schools tend to
be a political contention issue between Left and the right. The last is
apprenticeship, which prepare to a job to any who have completed the tracks.
University are public and some of them began to
applied fees like in Lower Saxony (Hannover), but political pressure, the last
Province to return to free education is Bavaria, by 2015.
