Criticism of the federal budget: Social security falls by the wayside!

Criticism of the federal budget: Social security falls by the wayside!

On July 9, 2025, the federal government approved a record budget of 503 billion euros for the coming year, with the prospect that this could rise to 574 billion euros by 2029. The focus of investments is primarily on infrastructure, climate protection and defense, which is causing concern among many experts and organizations. Andrea Betz from the Diakonie Munich and Upper Bavaria is critical of this budget and describes it as socially unbalanced. In her opinion, the increasing demand for support from food banks and clothing stores is not being adequately taken into account.

With a social budget of 190 billion euros, this remains the largest item in the budget, but there are no significant increases to meet the urgently growing needs of the population. While the health budget recorded a slight decline, the defense budget grew to 62 billion euros. Betz warns that spending on defense and security could reach around 100 billion euros by 2025 and that this trend will continue to rise.

The demands of diakonia

Betz therefore calls for targeted, reliable and long-term investments in social security and equal opportunities. She emphasizes that social offerings depend on continuous funding in order to have a sustainable impact. Another critical point is the planned financing of long-term care insurance, which is based on non-interest-bearing loans. With 500 million euros for 2025 and 1.5 billion euros for 2026, she sees this solution as unsustainable, which could lead to growing uncertainty for people in need of care and their families.

In addition, 6.5 billion euros from the special fund are earmarked for daycare centers and digital education, but here too the question remains whether these funds are sufficient to effectively meet the challenges in the social sector. Betz emphasizes that people's needs are higher than what is reflected in the draft budget. Diakonie calls for a fundamentally different orientation of state investments in order to be able to better cope with the social challenges of the future.

The budget debate clearly shows the different priorities within political decision-makers. While defense and security increasingly come into focus, social issues often fall by the wayside. Diakonie and other social organizations will continue to urge politicians to devote urgently needed attention and resources to the social sector.

Further information on the budget assessment can be found at diakonie.de and up hna.de.