Child-free adults will have to pay more for elder care

A preliminary hearing has begun in Munich against TUV Süd, the Bavaria-based branch of Germany’s highly respected security testing firm.

The suit was brought by residents of the Brazilian city of Brumadinho. On January 25, 2019, a dam broke outside an iron ore mine owned by mining company Vale. The collapse caused a flow of mud that engulfed several mining buildings as well as parts of the city, killing at least 270 people. The release of toxic chemicals from the mine also caused a major environmental disaster for the entire region.

Thirteen people, mostly Vale employees, have been arrested on charges of negligence over the disaster. Two of the suspects were TÜV Süd engineers who were part of a team contracted to conduct safety checks at the dam.

Federal Health Minister Nina Warken has drawn up a draft bill that would require adults without children to pay a higher percentage of taxes for publicly funded elderly care, according to a report by German media group RND.

The bill would increase contributions for child-free adults by 0.7% over a period of years, meaning they would have to pay 2.5% of their income each month. Their employer will be expected to pay 1.8%. The rates for adults with children will remain the same: 1.8% for those with one child, 1.55% for those with two children and 1.3% for those with three or more children.

Under the proposal, all adults over the age of 23 who are working full-time would be affected.

It is unclear when Warken, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), will submit the draft to the cabinet. His ministry originally said it would submit a proposal to reform care for the elderly in mid-May. With a long-stagnant birthrate due to immigration, Germany needs to act fast to ensure that older generations can be taken care of without placing an undue burden on younger people.

Good morning from DW’s newsroom in sunny summer Bonn.

Today we’ll cover the heatwave that’s scorching much of Europe, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius beginning a five-day visit to Canada, and the start of a class action lawsuit against German consumer protection firm TÜV.

Check back here for reports, analysis and headlines from across Germany throughout the day.