However, dark clouds hang over my honeymoon season with my new job: amendments that will be cutting the support the Unemployment Fund for Education and Science can offer its members. The list of cuts is long and cruel.

The first effects of the cuts to unemployment security will be felt as a reduction in unemployed people’s income next summer.

I think of a hypothetical young teacher who had three children while studying and worked various part-time jobs. She is now working her first fixed-term job at a comprehensive school, and when the spring term ends, so does her term of employment. She has agreed to do casual work at a familiar day care over the summer, just as she has for years now. She has new fixed-term employment lined up in the autumn, starting on 8 August 2024. In previous summers, she has always been able to rely on the support of her unemployment fund.

If our teacher’s first day of unemployment is Monday, 2 June 2024, she will first receive compensation for any holiday days she earned but did not take during her employment. If she has 28 unspent holiday days, her allowance will be moved back 28 working days, or more than five weeks. After this, she will have to wait another 7 working days before she can get any of her allowance. In comparison to the previous summer, she will have an additional 30 working days without support, because previously she could receive allowance and holiday pay at the same time, and the waiting period was only 5 days. In this example, the first payment date would be 22 July, and our teacher’s first two weeks of allowance would fall approximately just before the start of the autumn term on calendar week 32.

These cuts will also be felt in the form of reduced allowances. Child increases will be cut on 1 April 2024, which will impact many people severely. Our teacher has 3 non-adult children, which means she will receive EUR 285.09 less each month than she would have the previous year.

A person working part-time could previously earn up to EUR 300 without it affecting their earnings-related allowance. After 1 April 2024, a person working part-time will lose 50 cents of allowance for every euro they earn. Someone who works part-time and receives an adjusted allowance could receive up to EUR 150 less per month than they would have previously.

This year, the unemployment security system will be a great disappointment to many. The unemployment security received by our young teacher this summer will be EUR 3,263.88 less than it would have been the previous year, and the first payment she receives will arrive on her account towards the end of July at the earliest.

This year, the unemployment security system will be a great disappointment to many. The unemployment security received by our young teacher this summer will be EUR 3,263.88 less than it would have been the previous year, and the first payment she receives will arrive on her account towards the end of July at the earliest. All in all, she will receive 13 days’ worth of allowance during the summer months – a total of EUR 1045.98.

The only relief we can offer our members to help them deal with shrinking allowances and fewer payment days is short processing times. We can empathise with the coming pain, disappointment and anxiety of our members, but it will not make their lives any easier. I hope that our members continue to trust that we are here for them, that we are on their side and that we will support them during critical moments in their lives.