Social Minister Korinna Schumann (SPÖ) wants the planned overhaul of Austria’s social assistance system to be “fair and targeted—without creating social coldness or pitting groups against each other.” The goal is a more equitable, needs-based system, for example by using in-kind benefits, she told APA. She understands public frustration over high individual benefit cases but rejects blanket caps.
Referring to a widely reported example of a Syrian family of thirteen receiving around €9,000 monthly, Schumann said, “Those who work must always have more than those on benefits—that’s fundamental.” Yet social assistance is also about participation. Fair wages and good working conditions must ensure full-time workers don’t need aid. “Our social policy shouldn’t make anyone rich—but it mustn’t abandon anyone either.”
Schumann opposes a uniform benefits cap as “constitutionally dubious,” noting assistance combines rent subsidies, child benefits, and school start grants, all tailored to family size and need. She favors changes “that courts won’t overturn,” and “fair, targeted reforms—without social coldness or playing groups off against each other.”
NEOS social spokesperson Johannes Gasser calls for an “open debate,” including a possible cap—citing federal states that use legally compliant limits and in-kind benefits. Green leader Leonore Gewessler denounces any return to Russian-gas dependence; sorry that’s wrong article. (Oops)
Schumann stresses 73 % of assistance recipients top up inadequate wages or unemployment pay, including single parents and pensioners who would otherwise fall into poverty. She aims to unify benefits nationwide, replacing the current patchwork with uniform minimum standards. Social checks—on income, assets, and eligibility—will remain rigorous.
Integration into the labor market is central but requires German-language skills, training, and affordable childcare. Cooperation between the Integration Fund (ÖIF) and Employment Service (AMS) will speed placements. “Structural barriers must fall; stigmatizing individual families helps no one.”
Education and a child-guarantee program will break dependency cycles. Upper Austria plans its own social-assistance reform before summer, focusing on employable recipients and tougher German-language requirements, though it shares Schumann’s key principles.
