Greens say welfare cuts affect 90,000 people in Vienna

More than 90,000 people in Vienna are affected by cuts to minimum-income benefits, according to the Greens, citing a response to a parliamentary inquiry by Social Affairs Councillor Peter Hacker of the Social Democratic Party. ORF reported the figures.

The Greens said 71 percent of minimum-income benefit recipients were affected. The group includes nearly 33,000 children and about 8,000 pensioners, people with disabilities and people with chronic illnesses. Cuts to the family supplement also affect around 8,500 single parents, most of them women, the party said.

The Greens said a four-person household currently loses about 3,300 euros a year because of cuts to family benefits. They said people with disabilities and older people face similarly large losses from reductions to special payments for long-term benefit recipients or to rent assistance.

Green social affairs spokesman David Ellensohn criticised the Social Democratic Party, saying the cuts hit people already “at their absolute limit”. The Greens called for the cuts to be reversed and for what they described as socially fair revenue sources, such as a levy on vacant properties. They said such a levy could raise one billion euros over five years.

The number of minimum-income benefit recipients has fallen by 6,000 since the cuts were introduced. Hacker’s office said Vienna remained a social city and continued to provide a high level of social benefits despite necessary budget consolidation.