My dear daughter,
In this country, because of a social justice rule in the Constitution, if a family has no other means of providing, in case the adults can’t work due to sickness or impairment, they have the right to receive a benefit from the government.
It’s meant to keep families above the misery line. The money comes from taxes, the majority of which should be paid by companies. It’s a welfare state element and it exists in most developed, rich countries.
Now, a minimum wage here is just enough to keep a family from dying of starvation. It doesn’t allow for a cheap rent in almost every city, it’s not enough to buy clothes, tickets for cultural events, much less to pay for private schools or private healthcare. The state won’t provide quality public schools and hospitals either.
And this benefit is smaller than the minimum wage.
The new government has just presented a project to “reform” the public pension and social insurance system. Apparently, it is a pebble in the shoes of big companies, which never paid pension-related taxes they were required to in the first place, and don’t want to have to pay ever again.
One of the major issues in this “reform” project is that they intend to cut this minimum wage welfare benefit by more than half. Yes, I guess what is holding this country back is the bare minimum the government provides to miserable families.
We have our priorities in all the right places. I suppose we will be a rich, conservative and economic liberal utopia from now on.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 