Abstract Despite enormous increases in contribution rates and subsidies from federal funds, the personal contributions that people in need of care have to pay have exploded since the introduction of social care insurance in 1995. However, politicians are shying away from major reforms. The federal-state working group has presented a smorgasbord of ideas that provide useful impetus. However, one significant cost factor has been largely ignored so far: the industry-specific minimum wages for care workers have been difficult to justify since the introduction of the general minimum wage, if not before. At the same time, the associated costs indirectly increase the workload of nursing staff. This not only makes caring for those in need of care more expensive, but also potentially worsens the quality of care.
Steffen Roth (Sun,) studied this question.