Reduction of the German Welfare State

An article showed up last week in the Wall Street Journal. Here's the link:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119273795569263815.html

It starts with an almost-Wall Street Journal lede, setting the scene with Germans hunched in the rain waiting for soup and bread from a handout-truck. It then details the story of Hans Martin, an older man who used to work in a factory but can't get a new job because of his heart condition.

A new welfare law in Germany, "Hartz IV," was designed and implemented in 2005. It has been controversial since its inception; on the one hand, it saves the government a lot of money by cutting stipends to the chronically or long-term unemployed. The idea is to try and get some who have become complacent to go back to work and to ease the strain on government tills in a time when Germany is undergoing more economic troubles.

The result has been that, while the government saves money, it is much more difficult for a lot of the unskilled and minimally-skilled unemployed to survive. Many are losing their jobs to outsourcing and cannot find new ones, nor can they feed their families (or themselves) on the smaller stipends. Since Germans are used to thinking of charity as coming from the state, they are reluctant to give to the poor beyond what they pay in taxes.

This puts the poor in a difficult position. However, some groups are stepping up, inspired by New York's City Harvest. The "table" movement, as it is being called, takes food given by grocery stores which is close to sell-by date, minimally damaged, or is extra, and sells it to the poor for a pittance. This trend is catching on in Germany, as over 700 towns across Germany have set up a "table." Some "tables" also have a canteen and/or food truck as well as a grocery store.

This article seemed well-constructed to me, giving background where needed, and using quotes effectively to convey people's feelings about the growing poverty problem in Germany.