Left party demands more money for people with disabilities

In Saxony, fewer and fewer people with a disability have recently received compensation for disadvantages. This was the result of a minor inquiry by Left Party politician Susanne Schaper. Those affected receive blindness benefit, compensation for severe visual impairment, deafness, a severely disabled child or if deafness and blindness coincide.

Number of new applications for disadvantage compensation increased

According to an overview by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the total number of recipients of disadvantage compensation fell continuously from 13,646 in 2020 to 11,813 last year. At the same time, the number of new applications rose from 4,730 to 4,916 in the same period.

"It is important and right that the Free State of Saxony helps people with a visual and/or hearing impairment and families with seriously ill children to master everyday life and achieve as much quality of life as possible. However, Saxony's support payments are too low and do not adequately compensate for disability-related disadvantages," said Schaper. In a nationwide comparison, other states paid significantly more.

Left demands higher allowances

The left-wing parliamentary group has long been calling for an increase in the amounts and a constant adjustment for inflation. Accordingly, the state allowance for the blind should increase from 380 euros to 600 euros per month, the compensation for the severely visually impaired from 100 euros to 250 euros, the deafblind allowance from 700 euros to 1,000 euros and the compensation for severely disabled children from 120 euros to 200 euros.

In the case of disability compensation for deaf people, the left-wing party is proposing an increase from 150 euros to 600 euros. In addition, a degree of disability of 70 percent should be sufficient to receive the support in future.

Need will increase in an ageing society

"As Saxon society continues to age, we must assume that the need will grow. After all, the risk of deafness and visual impairment increases significantly with age," emphasized Schaper. The decline in the number of people with disabilities reported in the new statistics on severely disabled people should not be used as a reason to significantly reduce funding in the new double budget.