In a communiqué issued in Berlin on 10 April, the Federation of Catholic Families (Familienbund der Katholiken) has criticised the figures published by the Federal Ministry for the Family on allocations in favour of the family, which according to the information provided by the ministry would amount to 184 billion euros per year. “This figure is wrong because it is far too high. Services that the State does not provide are included in it. In this way government policy wishes to evade its own responsibilities to fairly compensate family burdens, giving the impression that it is possible to save on families”, declared Elisabeth Bußmann, President of the Federation. “The figures contain services provided not by the State but by [private] social security insurance”, she pointed out. “The figures also comprise funds exclusively allocated to civil servants and public sector workers. And the list contains provisions that have already been axed”, she added. According to the calculations of the Federation of Catholic Families, the “real” amount of subventions to families paid by the State would amount to around 56 billion euros per year. “Families – pointed out Bußmann – make a considerable contribution to tax revenue and in effect pay by themselves alone for these subventions. These services ought to be entered in the budget opposite the expenditures incurred by the State in its subventions to families”. Besides, “investments in children and families are investments in the future of our country. Making savings on them is misguided”.
