Draft budget 2026: Increase in the KJP, but coalition promise not completely fulfilled

The Bundesjugendring welcomes this increase in principle. "It's a step in the right direction. But it looks like a drop in the ocean," explains DBJR Chairwoman Daniela Broda. "It was clearly agreed in the coalition agreement that the KJP would be increased by ten per cent and then dynamised in order to absorb price increases. This promise has not yet been honoured in the government draft."

DBJR Chairman Wendelin Haag therefore emphasises that the government's draft budget is just the beginning: "At the moment, we don't yet know how much of the slight increase will actually reach youth associations. We expect the government to compensate for inflation to the tune of at least 2 million euros." The sovereignty now lies with parliament. Improvements must now be made in the parliamentary process so that the promised ten per cent can be implemented. We will be working hard to achieve this in the coming months. We expect the coalition to take responsibility for young people, as promised in the title of the coalition agreement."

The Bundesjugendring will closely monitor the ongoing process and work to ensure that the promises made in the coalition agreement are honoured. The needs-based and dynamic funding of youth association structures from the KJP would be a decisive and overdue step towards strengthening the national infrastructure of child and youth work and its indispensable work for young people, commitment and democracy - and thus contribute to young people being heard and being able to actively shape their present and future.

Even beyond the Children and Youth Plan, much more courage is needed to invest in the future of young people. The new special fund of 500 billion euros is a major step towards making urgently needed infrastructure projects possible. However, the special fund should also be used consistently to strengthen central locations for youth work and to shape the socio-ecological transformation in such a way that young people are given real prospects for a good life in a sustainable, democratic society.

However, the Bundesjugendring notes that the federal government's draft budget includes hardly any funding for youth education centres and other non-profit leisure and accommodation facilities, although the coalition agreement explicitly provides for this. The draft for the State and Municipal Infrastructure Financing Act (LuKIFG) also fails to take into account child and youth welfare facilities. Although the funds earmarked for education and care infrastructure from the special fund will flow in full to the federal states, youth education centres and similar facilities are not included in the catalogue of eligible infrastructure. In order to ensure their funding at state level, a clear inclusion in the law or explanatory memorandum would be necessary. This means that the coalition has in no way lived up to its announcement in the coalition agreement.

The current debt brake also remains an obstacle to a fiscal policy that is fair to young people and generations and must be completely abolished so that investments in climate protection, education, digitalisation and social infrastructure are also possible for young people and future generations in particular. Investments in children and young people are not short-term expenditures, but long-term investments to secure the future - for society, democracy and social cohesion. Saving on those who are affected the longest by the decisions of the present must never be done in the name of supposed intergenerational justice.