CDU on work and social affairs

In light of demographic change, the CDU wants to make better use of the existing workforce potential and above all bring more women into work. Barriers are to be removed, childcare improved, and household services given more support.

The CDU wants more women to be able to work. Daycare should get better. Working hours and workplaces should be more flexible. There is a program for returning to work after family time. The CDU wants to support household help more.

Together with the regional office of the Federal Employment Agency, the CDU wants to remove barriers to women's employment. It names better daycare quality, flexible models for working time and place, and the special program "Wiedereinstieg nach der Familienphase" (return to work after the family phase). Youth employment agencies are to strengthen cooperation among employment offices, schools, and municipalities. Information on household services is to improve and their use is to be supported more, to relieve families and create more registered jobs with social insurance in private homes.

The CDU commits to fair wages, jobs covered by collective agreements, and permanent employment with social insurance as the standard. Temp work should serve only as an entry route and to cover peaks; the long-term unemployed are to keep receiving state programs.

The CDU wants fair pay and steady jobs. People should be able to live on their wages. Temp work should stay the exception. The state will keep running programs for people who have been out of work for a long time.

The platform names the highest possible coverage by collective agreements as a goal because, in the CDU's view, it secures skilled workers, good wages, and adequate pensions. Workers should be able to feed themselves and their families from their pay. State funds are to keep financing special programs for people who have been unemployed for a longer time. The CDU wants to review existing state laws for their effect on employment, their practicability, and the red tape they cause.

The CDU wants to make the Saarland a model region for flexible working hours and attractive employers in order to counter the labor shortage. In the state civil service, fixed-term contracts without an objective reason are to end.

The CDU wants companies in the Saarland to be good employers. Working hours should be more flexible. Good companies get a seal. The state should stop giving fixed-term contracts without a reason.

The CDU promotes combining digital work from home, flexible working time models, and tailored staff development, arranged at company level and in collective agreements. In-company training and the "Familienfreundliches Unternehmen" (family-friendly company) seal are to keep receiving support. A support drive with unions, employers, and business is planned, along with a new "employer attractiveness" seal with clear audit criteria. Advisory and funding services are to be geared more closely to what companies need in practice.

The CDU wants to take stock of loneliness in Saarland and derive a comprehensive strategy from it. The aim is to address causes preventively and show people living alone possible solutions.

Many people feel lonely. This affects young and old. The CDU first wants to study how big the problem is in Saarland. Then it wants to make a plan against it. There should also be a special center for this topic.

According to the platform, loneliness affects younger and older people in cities and rural areas alike. The package of measures includes a state competence center on loneliness. Volunteer cooperation projects in municipalities are also to be funded. Digital tools are meant to help people live independently at home for a long time.

The CDU wants to set up a coordination office for volunteering in the social sector and expand funding programs for it. The platform describes volunteering as the backbone of social cohesion.

Many people help others for free. This is called volunteering. The CDU wants a new office that coordinates this help in the social field. There should also be more funding.

According to the platform, volunteers in many fields have already joined together to pool interests and share experience. In the social sector, a dedicated coordination office is meant to improve this. In addition, funding options and funding programs are to be developed and expanded.

The CDU wants many more subsidized jobs in inclusive companies and wants to promote employment in regular businesses. Sheltered workshops and independent day support centers are also to be expanded.

People with disabilities should find work more easily. The CDU wants more supported jobs in companies. It also wants to expand workshops and day support centers. People there should be able to build up a pension too.

The Inclusion Office's campaign "Mich behindert nichts!" is to continue, and the Initiative Inklusion is to be developed further. For workshops, the CDU backs varied jobs with easy movement between them, plus dedicated offers for people with mental-health disabilities. Day support centers are to stay independent. A new model would involve the Federal Employment Agency in organizing and funding them so that people working there can earn pension entitlements.

The CDU wants to develop support and funding programs so that older people can live independently in their own homes for a long time. Virtual multigenerational houses are to be set up across the state to bring young and old together online.

Older people should be able to live at home for a long time. The CDU wants to create new support for this. There should be online meeting places for young and old. People also learn there how to use digital media.

The platform names the master plan "Aktives Alter und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe" (active aging and social participation) as the guide for programs for older people. According to the CDU, virtual multigenerational houses already exist in 18 municipalities. They complement local centers regardless of location and are meant to teach digital skills. The CDU wants to carry out the statewide rollout together with the state media authority and the Mediennetzwerk SaarLorLux.