The cost of the citizen's income reached 93,885,000,000 euros.
The Bundestag has given final approval to a major welfare reform that will introduce a new basic income while gradually phasing out the controversial Bürgergeld (citizen’s income) program this summer after three and a half years.
The program, originally introduced as a key project of the SPD, has faced continuous criticism over its high cost. According to budget estimates, Germany allocated around €93.89 billion to the Bürgergeld system between 2023 and mid-2026, including associated support and administrative expenses.
Federal spending on unemployment-related benefits increased significantly during the program’s existence. In 2022, when Arbeitslosengeld II (unemployment benefit II) was still in place, the government budgeted about €21.09 billion. By last year, funding for Bürgergeld (citizen’s income) had risen to €29.6 billion, representing an increase of about 40 percent.
Data from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) shows that direct payments to beneficiaries made up only slightly more than one-third of the total costs. Housing support for recipients accounted for nearly the same amount, while administrative expenses represented more than ten percent of overall spending.
Critics have also argued that the program created weak incentives for employment. Between November 2024 and October 2025, about 29,952 individuals refused available work and had their benefits reduced. However, this number is far lower than in earlier years, when annual figures sometimes exceeded 100,000.
The welfare system has also generated a large number of legal disputes. Between 2023 and 2025, job centers recorded 1,350,382 appeals and 149,881 lawsuits regarding benefit decisions. Many disputes involved housing cost calculations, repayment claims, and the assessment of income or assets, although most rulings ultimately supported the job centers.