Germany raises family benefits

After weeks of bickering Germany's conservative-liberal government and the Social Democratic opposition have agreed to increase unemployment benefits by eight euros per month as of next year. Children from low-income families will receive a warm meal for lunch and free membership in diverse associations. The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung welcomes the move: "If four hundred million euros are enough to ensure that things quieten down at schools and that more children receive decent meals, this is a good way to prevent the spread of pitiable living standards resulting in particular from the conditions on the labour market. ... Even the minimum wage which will apply for 1.2 million workers can have an impact on the way children are treated: those who don't have to have several jobs to get by will in theory have more time to dedicate to the family. After the stimulus packages, the scrapping bonus for cars and the bank bailouts people are realising that families too ... play a systemic role for the state."

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