1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
PoliticsGermany

German coalition disputes welfare state funding

02:31

This browser does not support the video element.

Simon Young
September 5, 2025

As Germany's government presses ahead with a program of reforms, one in focus is the country’s complex welfare system. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is pushing for a tougher approach to social spending. That has caused tensions within his coalition.

Germany's coalition partners are divided about how to secure funding of Germany’s welfare state. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, from the Christian Democrats, argues the system is financially unsustainable and calls for reform. But Social Affairs Minister Bärbel Bas from the Social Democrats strongly disagrees, calling the debate over affordability nonsense.

Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW