Romanian mayor spoke of “sweetheart” – Wagenknecht wants to stop child benefit going abroad

BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht calls for no more child benefit to be paid for children who do not live in Germany. On Saturday she reacted on Platform X to an MDR report about poverty migration from Romania, which WELT had previously reported on.

"These are unbelievable conditions. It is completely unacceptable how the German state allows itself to be exploited," wrote Wagenknecht. This development must be stopped. "Politicians must again think more about Bitterfeld than about Bucharest. There can be no child benefit for children who do not live in Germany."

In the report “EU poverty migration: welfare state in a dead end?” says a Romanian mayor: "In our community we have large families, some have 10 or 15 children. They get child benefit in Germany." There are also social assistance and housing benefit. “This is like a treasure for our country and our children from Romania.”

The report also contains a sample calculation that has been confirmed by the German Association of Cities and Municipalities. According to this, a family with seven children in Germany has around 4,500 euros net per month if the parents earn just under 700 euros in mini-jobs. Child benefit, basic security and other benefits make up the majority. In addition, there is adequate housing.

For a family in Romania, the report comes to around 1,500 euros: the head of a family there earns just under 260 euros net, and for seven children there are benefits totaling around 1,200 euros.

The fundamental problem is “at its core the concept of employee at the EU level,” says Marc Elxnat from the Association of Cities and Municipalities. Anyone who works a few hours in a mini-job, for example, is already considered an employee and is therefore entitled to social benefits.

According to current EU law, children who live in another EU country are also entitled to child benefit if one parent lives or works in Germany. Austria wanted to adjust the family allowance for such children to the price level in their country of residence. The European Court of Justice declared this incompatible with EU law in 2022. According to the Federal Employment Agency, around 528 million euros in child benefit went to children abroad in 2025.

The report is available in the ARD media library and will be shown on television on November 4th.