Citizens' benefit recipients are repeatedly exposed to prejudice. A man from North Rhine-Westphalia defends himself and tells his story.
The current standard citizen's benefit rate for a single person is 563 euros per month. According to the calculations of the Paritateaischer Wohlfahrtsverband, not enough; citizens would need 813 euros a month to escape poverty. The TV presenter Jörg Pilawa also lived on citizen's money for a week for the Sat.1 documentary and showed how uncomfortable that felt for him. Some citizens' money does not seem to apply to a mother of four, who can even put aside 1,000 euros each month. The case of Thomas Wasilewski shows how quickly one can get into trouble. The 60-year-old has now been dependent on government support for 12 years. "I think it was totally brutal for my children. Not being able to buy anything fancy clothes, not having enough clothes or pocket money for school trips," he says.