Citizens' benefit recipients have to make do with little money. Jörg Pilawa shows in a report what that feels like – and surprises the audience.
Berlin – Across Germany, 14.2 million people live in poverty. According to figures from the Federal Employment Agency (as of June 2023), almost 5.5 million people receive citizen's benefit - that is around 6.5 percent of the population of Germany. The topic has been discussed a lot since the citizen's allowance was increased at the beginning of the year. The moderator Jörg Pilawa wanted to know for himself and in the Sat.1 report “Jörg Pilawa: Suddenly poor” (April 15th) moved in with a family in a hotspot district of Berlin who live on citizens' money. This time changed his views.
“I couldn’t live like that”: Jörg Pilawa moves in with a family that receives community benefit for a week
The family that Pilawa moves in with consists of two parents and four children. The calculation is “A life with citizen’s money, with 127 euros a week”. Pilawa says he wanted to “go deeper.” He explains: “My mission: Helping around the house.” So he sleeps on the couch, goes to the blackboard, folds laundry, sorts school documents, greases sandwiches, and helps clean. And admits: “I couldn’t live like that.”
Jörg Pilawa reaches his limits “physically and emotionally” in his citizen’s money report
You can see that Jörg Pilawa is moved by what he experiences during his report. And with what warmth he is received. He admits that his “view of poverty in Germany has changed.” And also: “I’m reaching my limits physically and emotionally.” And that even though he only has to deal with so little money for a week.
Jörg Pilawa is ashamed of his clichés about citizens' benefit recipients
“I just pop in there and act like Super Nanny and say a little something and then leave again. And then I just realized that I had really fallen off my high horse because I couldn’t imagine living like that before,” says Pilawa. And further: “It’s close, of course. But it's doable for a week. The problem would be if I had to do it for the rest of my life or for months. Because then everything revolves around money all day long. I'm also going home with shame, I'm also ashamed of myself. For having such cliché images in your head. I only realized that here.”
Citizens' money report ensures shared feedback on social media
The report itself only reached 0.77 million viewers and 5.7 percent of 14-49 year olds when it was broadcast. Nevertheless, it is causing discussions online: “A little unrealistic for BG recipients, many don’t have 18 euros a day just for groceries,” writes one person on X, for example. Someone else agrees: “18 euros a day for shopping is incorrectly calculated! That's 540 euros for 30 days. Where is the money for electricity, internet, smartphone, clothing, etc. It's probably more like five euros a day for food." Several people calculate that they have more than five to six euros left for food a day.
Other critical voices also note: “I find this form of documentation voyeuristic. What do you think?". On Instagram it also says specifically about the apartment that Pilawa is moving into: “Being poor doesn’t mean being dirty.”
Many also praise the documentary: “Respect” or “mega show” can be read on Instagram. And the moderator also receives positive feedback: “Jörg Pilawa is not only likeable, but also has a lot of empathy.”
How much citizen's money you are entitled to can also be checked using an online calculator. A former citizen's benefit recipient and current pensioner recently spoke plainly that the amount was “clearly too little”.
(jh)