AfD on work and social affairs

The AfD wants an “activating basic income support” to move recipients of Bürgergeld (citizen's income) who can work into jobs. People who work should always be clearly better off than those on benefits. Skilled workers are to be kept in the country, and retirees encouraged to keep working through a tax allowance.

The AfD wants more people to work. People on Bürgergeld who can work should go back to work. Bürgergeld is a basic welfare payment. People who work should have clearly more money. Retirees should pay less tax if they keep working.

The party's concept is meant to return hundreds of thousands of employable Bürgergeld recipients to work. People in real need would still be supported, but the AfD does not want to fund a freely chosen life at others' expense. An additional tax allowance is meant to keep older people in their jobs. The emigration of domestic skilled workers should stop, and emigrants should be won back through better conditions for work, wealth building, training and safety.

The AfD wants to tighten access to unemployment benefits for new workers: entitlement would arise only after three years of contributions and initially last six months. Those who caused their own unemployment are to receive no benefit.

The AfD wants new rules for unemployment pay. People who start their first job from 2026 must pay in for three years first. Then they get money for six months at first. People who caused their own job loss get nothing.

The rule applies to people who take up their first job subject to social insurance from 2026 onward. After the first three years, the benefit period grows by one month for every two additional contribution years. Workers over 50 are to get a voucher for private job placement as soon as their employer dismisses them. Intensive counseling, training and placement are planned during the benefit period because, according to the platform, returning to work gets harder over time.

The AfD wants to overhaul Bürgergeld (citizen's income) under its own concept and get recipients who are able to work back into jobs quickly. In the platform's view, the benefit rates mean work no longer pays for many. Recipients of old-age basic support are no longer to be worse off regarding protected assets and car ownership.

The AfD wants to change Bürgergeld. Bürgergeld is basic income support. The new model is called activating basic income support. People without work should go back to work quickly. The AfD says the benefit is too high and work often does not pay. Poor retirees should get the same rules for savings and cars.

The platform criticizes that job centers too rarely sanction breaches of duty, that job placements have declined and that many unemployed people end up in programs of no use. It states that about 700,000 registered vacancies went unfilled in 2024 despite more than four million recipients able to work. The AfD also sees the benefit rates as an incentive for immigration into the welfare system and points to the share of foreign recipients. Social assistance and old-age basic support are to stay in place.

The AfD wants to keep specialized Förderschulen (special-needs schools) and better reward relatives who care for disabled people at home. People working in sheltered workshops are to receive the minimum wage. The platform names a life as self-determined as possible as the overarching goal.

The AfD wants to keep special schools. These are schools for children with disabilities. Relatives should get more money for care at home. People in sheltered workshops should get the minimum wage. There should be less red tape.

The minimum wage in workshops is to be financed by reallocating existing funds. The AfD wants to scrap bureaucratic requirements, such as the limits on caregiving relatives using a disabled person's car. The platform supports measures for better participation in society where it considers them sensible.

The AfD wants to fundamentally restructure Bürgergeld (citizen's income). Recipients who are able to work and still draw benefits after half a year would have to do community service. The platform says this would get people back into jobs faster and lower costs for taxpayers.

The AfD wants to change Bürgergeld. That is a basic welfare payment. Some people get it for more than 6 months. If they can work, they should do community work. The AfD says this helps people find jobs faster.

After six months on benefits, recipients able to work would be required to do community service. Having one's usual residence in Germany would again be a condition for the benefit and would be checked. People unable to work would be looked after by social welfare offices instead of job centers, with the same level of financial support. Job centers and employment agencies would be organized by occupational field, staffed with placement officers who have industry experience, and linked more closely to employers; training would only be offered by providers that can prove placement success. The AfD wants to prevent multiple claims through biometric identity checks and digital networking. Benefit rates would follow the actual price trend of the underlying basket of goods.